Of the Dawn and the Twilight
by PhoenixCaptain
Summary: Midna, forced to marry a prince she neither knows nor cares about, finds herself falling in love with a simple farm-boy instead. And as if things couldn't get any worse, they discover a threat lurking in the shadows, far bigger than any of their problems, and it is up to them to overcome their selfish desires and return Hyrule to peace.
1. The Twili Princess

The Week of Faron. What a time to pay her first visit to Hyrule.

Castle Town possessed wide, quaint cobblestone streets, large enough to fit the hundreds of people that passed through on a daily basis. But now their limits were tested, with thousands of people bustling to and fro, and wooden stalls lining the streets, packed so tightly together that there was hardly room to breathe.

Usually Castle Town was quaint and colorful, little white houses with wooden trim lining its streets, green and yellow and blue and red shutters on their windows, and some of them even painted their trim with outlandish colors. But now it was even more colorful, with rainbow banners stretching from the windows of one house to another, from one vendor's stall to the next. Flags of green and gold waved from the roofs and walls of houses, each one boasting the beautiful profile of a woman embroidered in white silken thread. Vendors stood behind wooden stalls, each with their own small awnings, all of different cloth, color, and pattern.

It was more color than she thought she had ever seen before in her life, and she couldn't help gawking at it, marveling at the dozen different smells in the air, and the vendors shouting their wares, and all the busy people bustling around her.

There were people with long pointed ears and people with small, rounded ones. There were women with dark skin and golden eyes and women with milky skin and blue eyes. There were men with scruffy beards and bearskin coats, and clean-shaven men wearing only the finest of silks. There were wiry fish-people from the rivers, from the lakes, even the ocean; and there were great rock-people that dwelled only in the hottest of volcanoes.

Yet - save for the two men at her side - she saw nobody like her.

Most people didn't stop to give her a second glance, because the crowd was so thick and the people so desperate to get to their next destination as quickly as possible that they tended not to pay any attention to their surroundings. But those few who did turn their gazes to her a second time would notice pale blue skin and lilac lips, hair as orange as fire, and eyes red as the sunset. And as soon as they took note of these features, all those people would immediately grimace and look away in fear, then attempt to once again become one with the seething mass of people around them in the hopes that the terrifying woman wouldn't notice them.

It wasn't her appearance so much as her race that struck fear into the hearts of the people. And that was why she was here - to rid them of their irrational fear.

She turned her head a little to the left, and saw a stall with a bright green awning, patterns of all sorts of fruits embroidered onto its surface. It might have been this gaudy cloth that first caught her attention, but what kept her eyes fixated upon the stall was the large basket filled to the brim with strawberries that sat upon its counter.

And she decided that "ridding the people of their irrational fear" could wait until later.

With wide eyes she whirled to face the two men standing beside her, and grabbed their arms to stop them from pushing their way through the crowd. "We're getting those," she said, releasing their arms once more and turning to point at the strawberries. "The whole basket."

One of the men - blue-skinned just like she was, with short-cropped brown hair and small pupils in the center of his golden eyes - sighed at her and shook his head. "Midna, you know we have to hurry..."

"We'll be on time, don't worry about it," she insisted, flashing him a wide grin, revealing rows of pearly white teeth.

He paused for a moment, casting a glance at his surroundings and narrowing his eyes. "You know how the Hyrulians feel about us," he said in a low tone, leaning just slightly toward her in the hopes that only she would hear his words. "We don't need to scare them."

Midna huffed in aggravation and rolled her eyes. "They'll be _fine,_ Salaas. Hyrulians speak the language of rupees, don't they? So we'll hand some over and continue on our way. They won't care what we look like as long as they have pretty gems to count."

She knew it was a lie. Whoever looked at her and her escort would stare in fear. They might even try to flee. But couldn't she hope for the best?

Salaas only stared at her, lips pressed into a disapproving line. But, eventually, he shook his head again and made his way over to the stall. With a wide smile, Midna followed him, staring hungrily at the basket filled with strawberries. She had been too nervous to eat breakfast - and since it was already afternoon, she was understandably very hungry.

There was a young man behind the stall's wooden counter, his back turned to them, busily organizing baskets filled with fruits and vegetables of all kinds. Midna stopped in front of the basket of strawberries and cleared her throat. With a start, the young man quickly turned around, a smile on his face. "Oh - sorry. How may I help you?"

Midna didn't look at him, only pointed to the basket filled with delicious-looking, bright red strawberries. "I'd like those."

"How many?" he asked.

"The whole basket."

For a moment the young man remained silent. She glanced up, only to see him staring down at the little fruits with his brow furrowed. "...The whole basket?" he repeated.

"That's what I said, didn't I?"

"I suppose so -"

"How much will that be?"

He paused at the question, lightly pursing his lips in thought, and lifted his eyes.

It was then that their gazes met.

His eyes were brilliantly blue, she thought, and she couldn't compare them to the sky because they outshone it, and she couldn't compare them to the ocean because they were far deeper than that. And for a moment she could only stare at him, wondering why those beautiful blue eyes seemed so familiar. And why in the world her thoughts had turned to such a ridiculous direction.

She tore her eyes away from his, scanning his sharp facial features, the light tan to his skin and the dark golden hair framing his face and falling to his shoulders, the long pointed ears sticking out from the sides of his head, adorned with little blue earrings that complemented his eyes but couldn't hope to match them. Again she wondered why he seemed so familiar - because she was quite sure that she had never seen him in her entire life.

It was only then that she noticed how long of a silence had passed between them. The young man had been staring at her, too - and she tried to disguise her frown, realizing that he must have been terrified of her, of her horrible red eyes and blue skin.

He gave her a nervous grin and ran a hand through his hair. "Uh, sorry about that, I was just - thinking. For the whole basket it'd probably be... ten rupees."

Midna blinked in surprise. "What? Only ten?" Impossible, she thought; strawberries were always so expensive, especially delicious-looking ones like these, and that price was far too low. She had expected to pay thirty or perhaps even forty rupees.

"Yup, ten," he said again with a nod, that smile never leaving his face, and she marveled at how easily he smiled and at how unafraid he seemed to be.

In response, Midna only shrugged her shoulders and turned to Salaas. "Ten rupees, please," she said with a grin, and Salaas only frowned as he reached into the small satchel hanging at his hip and produced a single yellow rupee. He placed the small gem in her palm, and she immediately whirled around once more, handing it to the young man on the other side of the counter. He accepted it, returning her grin, and handed her the wicker basket filled with small red fruits.

"Thank you," she said happily, accepting the basket from him.

He nodded in response as she turned to leave, and called after her, "Good day, miss!"

 _Miss._ She hadn't told him her name, and she hadn't learned his either. But she shook her head to herself as she strode away, pushing through the thick crowds with the basket of strawberries clutched tightly to her chest. Why would she need to give him her name? And why would she need to know his? There was no point.

But still, she couldn't help searching her memories, reaching into the farthest corners of her mind in an attempt to remember why he had seemed so familiar. Maybe he just looked like someone she knew? No, impossible. Though she had seen at least a hundred Hylians with blonde hair and blue eyes - all in the same day, too - his eyes could not be compared to any other color of blue in the world. There was just something... _something_ there, and she had almost had it, and if she just reached out she could touch it -

The memory slipped away, and she frowned in irritation. She hated being so close to something and yet so far away. Usually at that point she'd shrug her shoulders and move on with her life, but... but there was something more, something she couldn't explain, and she couldn't just let it escape her. She had to _remember._

But _what_ she had to remember, she had no idea.

"Midna."

She glanced over her shoulder and realized Salaas was there, grimacing at her. He was a tall, wiry man, and when he placed a hand on her arm, it was heavy. "Where are you going? Ludin and I thought we'd lost you..."

Midna had completely forgotten about her two bodyguards in her desperation to remember something about that young Hylian man. She stared at Salaas with a disapproving glare until he removed his hand from her arm, then she looked behind him to see Ludin catching up. He was the silent one out of the two men; a short man with blue skin so pale it was almost just white. His eyes were purely orange without sclera or pupil in sight, and his thin lips always seemed to be pressed together. She didn't really know what color his hair was, because he was a priest and, as such, always wore thick black clothes and tight black wrappings around his neck and the top of his head. There was a line of four faintly glowing cerulean dots beneath his right eye, trailing down his cheek.

Despite those glowing dots that stuck out like a sore thumb, Midna often forgot that Ludin was even part of her escort, because he was so silent that one tended not to notice he even existed. Sometimes his silence unnerved her, but other than that.

Her lip curled in irritation, and she grabbed a strawberry from the large basket in her arms, biting a sizable chunk from it - she noted how delicious it tasted - and chewed with her mouth open. She spoke around a mouthful of food, "Where am I going? To Castle Hyrule, of course, where I'm _supposed_ to be going. Or did you forget why we even came here in the first place?"

Obviously displeased with her sarcasm, Salaas only glared at her for a while, then he shook his head and sighed. "Please, Midna... remember what your father told you before we left -"

"Act polite?" She gave him a humorless smile. "Not a chance." And with that, she spun once more on her heel and strode away through the crowds, not bothering to see if her bodyguards were following her. In fact, she would have much preferred it if she lost them.

Castle Hyrule loomed over the surrounding town, casting an everlasting shadow upon it, tall white towers like fingers reaching into the sky. Midna followed the tall structure, keeping her focus on it as she turned corners and attempted to ignore the enticing calls of hundreds of vendors, shouting about their wares above the tumult of the crowd. She heard many of them advertising rare jewelry and clothing from other lands, pastries of all imaginable kinds, delicious meals hot off the fire, even wild animals caught in deserts or mountains or forests. She only stopped to cast one glance at a large black wolfos hunched over in its cage, hand-like front paws curled around the metal bars, snarling wickedly at whoever passed by. For a moment she stood there, transfixed by the beast's fierce yellow eyes, and then she continued on.

She emerged from a slightly smaller side street into a small round plaza, a beautiful fountain nestled in the center of it. Five round platforms stood atop one another, each one smaller than the one below it, until finally, on the fifth and top platform, there stood three life-size, gold-plated statues of the Goddesses. One was shorter than the rest, long wavy hair cascading about her face and spilling over her shoulders and down her back like a waterfall. There was a kind, patient smile on her soft face. Another was slightly taller, long straight hair falling to the small of her back, and she held her head to the sky, just one corner of her mouth slightly tilted into a smile. Her right hand was raised to the heavens, while her left hung at her side. The third was the tallest, and had quite a muscular form for a woman. Her eyes were narrow, her hair tied into a high ponytail, loose strands of it falling around her face and her shoulders and onto her lips, which were pressed together in a thin line. All of them had an element of kindness in their eyes, even the last one, somehow.

They were quite lifelike, Midna thought as she studied them for a long time, walking round the marble fountain multiple times, watching the water bubble forth from beneath the women's feet and spill, smooth as silk, down the many platforms before pooling in the bottom one. She made another round, trying to decide which Goddess was which. Obviously the tallest, strongest-looking one was Din; being the Goddess of power, that much was obvious. But the shortest one, with the soft face and kind smile? Nayru, perhaps; there was a certain wisdom to her face. That left Farore, the one with her hand stretched to the sky. As soon as she decided that, Midna realized that there was a certain courageous look to her, as if she was ready to take on the world without a care. She was a Goddess, after all.

And despite how beautiful the fountain was - and how much she admired the ridiculous amount of detail in each statue - she couldn't help grimacing at it, thinking about how expensive it must have been, and how the Hyrulians seemed to care more about wealth and pretty decorations than anything else.

Or perhaps she was wrong. After all, she hadn't seen too much of Hyrule yet. Maybe they were so prosperous, their kingdom so flawless, so peaceful, that they had money to spare and decided to use it on things like this.

There was a great cobblestone road behind the fountain, wider than any other she had seen so far. It led to a large set of marble stairs that stopped before a tall, thick oaken gate set in a long white stone wall surrounding Castle Hyrule itself. Two guards flanked the gate, which hung open, revealing yet another set of marble stairs beyond that led up toward yet another white stone wall, and another thick oaken gate.

As she craned her neck to look at the soaring towers of the castle and the two thick walls surrounding it, she once again thought that the Hyrulians had far too much money and far too much time on their hands. Were all of them prideful? Selfish? Gluttonous? At the thought, she swallowed, and dreaded meeting the prince of this wealthy kingdom. She had already been dreading it for weeks - months, even - but now more than ever the thought of meeting him made her heart clench and her stomach flip.

She jumped when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder, and whirled to face Salaas. There was an aggravated look in his golden eyes. " _Again,_ Midna?" he hissed through clenched teeth. "What have we told you, time and time again, if you run into trouble without us by your side, then -"

"Whatever," Midna huffed, rolling her eyes and turning away. "We're already late. We should get going." And without waiting for a response from her bodyguard, she stepped round the grand fountain, casting one last glance in its direction before continuing on. She had been carrying the strawberry basket close to her chest the entire time, and had almost totally forgotten about it until now. She slipped the basket on her left arm instead, and used her other hand to grab one of the little fruits and pop the entire thing in her mouth - save for the leaves, of course.

Behind her, she could hear the noisy footsteps of Salaas, but she ignored that fact, and instead kept going only until she reached the first set of open gates. Only then did she stop, looking between the two guards stationed there. Both of them looked bored and tired, as they were leaning on their spears and staring at the ground with dull eyes.

One of the guards stared at Midna's shoes for a while, and, in the middle of a large yawn tried to say, "Week of Faron, all visitors welcome..." He trailed his eyes up her long black dress adorned with white and cyan markings, and stopped short when he met her gaze. His small brown eyes widened, and suddenly he looked very much awake as he stumbled backward. "Who are you?" he demanded.

It was then that Ludin stepped forward. The entire time he had accompanied her, Midna had never seen him pull his hands out of his long, draping sleeves. But now he withdrew his pale right hand, fingers curled around a scroll. He unfurled the scroll and handed it to the guard, who only stared at him, the fear obvious in his face. It was clear that Ludin's pure orange eyes were scaring the poor man. And Midna didn't blame him. Ludin's utterly silent demeanor could seem quite threatening at times.

After a moment of silence, the guard swallowed and accepted the scroll, quickly scanning its contents. He mumbled something aloud, clutching his spear tight in his hand as he held the scroll with the other, and then returned his gaze to the three people before him.

"...All right," he said, voice quiet, after another moment of hesitation. "Go on inside." He cast a glance to the other guard, standing quite a few yards away, and jerked his head toward the gate. "John! Take them inside. And send someone else to take up your post."

"M-me?" Clearly John had been happy to avoid the situation, but now that he was being forced into it, he seemed quite unhappy over the fact. He swallowed heavily, beady eyes darting between the three foreigners standing before him.

"Yeah, you! Who else would I be talking to?"

John swallowed again, then took a few hesitant steps forward, still keeping a fair distance from Midna and her escort. He said nothing, only continued flicking his gaze between the three of them, as if expecting them to attack him at any given moment.

"And take this with you," said the other guard, holding out the scroll and waving it around.

Reluctantly John took a few more steps forward, accepting the scroll. He didn't bother to read it over, only distanced himself from the foreigners again and stepped through the gate. "Follow me!" he called, not even bothering to stop as he ascended the second set of stairs that led to the other oaken gate.

Midna glanced between Ludin and Salaas, unable to help something of a small smirk. She hated the way people feared her and her race - but she couldn't help being amused by it, too, just a little. What pathetic guards, she thought, acting like frightened children just at the sight of her and her escort. Salaas only offered a small shrug before stepping through the tall gate, Midna and Ludin in tow.

Only once she began to ascend the stone stairs did Midna notice that they actually formed a bridge high above the castle's moat. She stared over the gold-plated marble railing into the dark blue water far below, and noticed that it seemed to flow like a river. There must have been something constantly feeding the moat, and something to allow it to drain as well, she thought.

John led them through the second gate, still keeping a fair distance from them, and didn't stop to introduce them to the castle's outer ward. It was beautifully decorated, with the bright green grass trimmed to perfection, flowers of all sizes and colors lining the elegant stone path leading to the front gates of the castle itself. There were a few small aspen trees here and there, thin white trunks complementing the color of the castle itself.

Midna began to notice a theme, and she sighed as she looked at the white marble stairs behind her, the white stone of the castle, and the white trunks of the aspen trees.

Two more guards flanked the doors into the castle, and when they looked up to see Midna and her escort, they immediately had the same reaction John had - to stand there, wide eyed, and tremble.

It was funny the first time. Now it was getting old, Midna thought with a huff as she stopped, looking between the two guards and waiting for one of them to do something.

Eventually John stepped forward, tapped one of the guards on the shoulder, and said quietly, "Can you escort them inside...?"

"No way!" he responded immediately. "It isn't time to leave my post yet! I'm supposed to stay right here!"

John clenched and unclenched his jaw, fidgeted with his spear, stared down at his armored feet for a moment. Then he took a deep, shaking breath and nodded. "A-all right. But I had to leave my post to escort... them -" Here he motioned to Midna, Salaas, and Ludin - "into the castle. Someone needs to go take it up again..."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get on that. Just take them and go!"

Midna heard Salaas sigh with annoyance in front of her. Ludin, as usual, remained utterly silent, seemingly unfazed by anything happening around him. She rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck as the two guards opened the doors into the castle itself, and motioned the foreigners inside.

Midna obeyed, stepping over the grand threshold of the castle into the vast entry hall beyond. Predictably, the entire thing was made of white marble - its ceilings, walls, floors, stairs, columns, and even the statues lining the walls. Thankfully the monotony was broken just a little by the gold-trimmed columns. From the high ceiling hung a large crystal chandelier, though it was not lit due to the bright sunlight streaming in through the tall windows lined along the walls. A long red carpet trailed from the door all the way up the wide staircase at the end of the hall.

Along with statues and columns, guards also lined the walls, standing tall and almost motionless, spears clutched in their hands. John led Midna and her escort across the grand entry hall, and as they passed, the guards gave them all sorts of looks - some curious, most of them scared, and a couple of them didn't even seem to care, surprisingly enough.

Up the stairs they went, and they emerged into another hall, this one smaller, though still no less impressive. The walls and ceilings remained white marble, though it was made less noticeable due to the paintings lining the walls, portraying men or women sitting in lavish chairs, adorned with silken clothes and glimmering jewelry and golden crowns. Suits of armor stood watch here and there, the same as John and all the other guards wore - light silver, trimmed with gold, a large beautiful winged symbol of the triforce engraved on the chest-plate. On the ceilings hung plenty of crystal chandeliers, smaller versions of the one that hung in the entry hall.

Midna could only marvel at how vastly different Castle Hyrule was from her own palace.

Eventually they stopped before a large set of mahogany doors, engraved with the scene of the Golden Goddesses creating the world. Din swept across the land with flaming arms, sculpting the earth. Nayru followed her, bestowing her wisdom upon the world, giving law to the land. And Farore trailed behind them all, creating life to uphold the law. In their wake they left the Triforce, a relic of their power and their love for their creations.

"Wait here," John said, interrupting Midna's study of the beautifully-carved door. He turned one of the golden knobs and pried the door open ever-so-slightly, then slipped inside and shut it again behind him.

A moment of silence passed before Salaas took the basket off Midna's arm, and muttered to her, "You'd look like an idiot carrying this around in the presence of Hyrulian royalty, your highness."

 _Your highness._ Of course, now that they were out of the busy streets of Castle Town, he insisted on calling her by her title instead of, simply, "Midna".

"You can call me by my name, you know," she whispered back.

Salaas grimaced at her. "Your highness... everyone knows how much you hate being royalty -"

"I _love_ being royalty, I just hate formality."

"- but please," he continued as if she hadn't said anything, "act _normal_ just for this once. This is our only chance to gain the trust of the Hyrulians. Don't mess it up."

Midna folded her arms across her chest and cocked a brow at him. "Oh, of _course,_ whatever you say, Salaas. After all, everyone knows you suddenly became king out of nowhere."

"Your sarcasm is the first thing that needs to go," Salaas told her with narrowed eyes. "Prince Eldren won't like it."

So that was his name. She had forgotten. She mentally tucked the name away for future reference. "I'm not going to change myself just for some pompous prince," she snapped.

"You've never even met him, how do you know that he's pompous?"

"I just do."

"Stubborn as usual." Salaas huffed in aggravation. "Just - give him a chance please, your highness."

Midna rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever you say, fine." To an extent, she agreed with the man. She could not allow herself to fail. If she did, the Hyrulians would forever fear her people out of nothing more than sheer ignorance. If she could simply marry the prince of Hyrule and show them that her people weren't quite as terrifying as they were made out to be...

But her thoughts were interrupted when the door opened again, and John peeked out. "Prince Eldren will see you now," he said quietly, then immediately slipped back inside.

Midna and Salaas exchanged a glance before he first stepped into the room, followed by her, and then finally Ludin.

The throne room was a grand affair, a vast room with a high ceiling supported by thick gold-trimmed columns. She was not surprised to see that, of course, the ceilings, floors, and walls were white marble, interrupted only by a thin red carpet leading from the doors to the throne, and multiple crystal chandeliers on the ceiling. It looked quite similar to the entry hall, the only difference being the throne at the far end of the room and the plush red chairs lining the walls. The tall windows were made of clear glass, pouring bright sunlight into the room that spilled onto the throne itself, a tall, wide, gold-plated chair covered with thick red cushions. The back of the chair extended high, almost to the ceiling itself, and was engraved with an image of the three Golden Goddesses surrounding their Triforce. It looked quite similar to the carving on the doors leading into the room.

And, standing there in the center of the room with his hands behind his back, was a young man she could only assume was Prince Eldren. He looked like no Hylian she had seen thus far, though his ears were long and pointed like one. His skin was dark, eyes bright golden, short hair the same color.

Upon seeing her, he smiled and stepped forward to meet her, slightly bowing his head. "You must be Princess Midna of the Twili."

It was time to put on an act. A mask that she hated wearing, but a burden that she had to bear nonetheless. It was hers and hers alone, and if she failed, she failed her people.

She had told Salaas that she wouldn't change just to please a man. But that had been a lie. If she needed to please him in order to protect her people, then please him she would.

So she forced a smile onto her lilac lips. "Yes," she said sweetly, lifting her hand and waiting for him to kiss it, no matter how much she hated that particular formality. "Prince Eldren, I assume?" He only took her hand in response and lightly pressed his lips to the back of it for only a second before drawing back with a small nod. "A pleasure."

"A pleasure on my part, too," he said with a smile. "I apologize for my father's absence; he didn't quite feel well enough to leave his bed this morning, I'm afraid."

"I wish him the best," Midna said with eyes slightly widening, and she pressed a hand to her lips in surprise - fake surprise. She couldn't have cared less about the king. She couldn't even remember his name, or anything about him. "I will pray for his well-being."

To her side, she thought she could see the faintest hint of a smile on Salaas's lips, clearly pleased that she was playing her part.

Eldren studied her face for a moment, and she thought his brow might have been just slightly furrowed. But as soon as she noticed the expression, it was gone, and he was smiling again. "He will be fine, I'm sure. Thank you for your concern. At any rate, I'm sure you're tired after your long journey." He motioned to one of the guards lining the throne room, which, admittedly, Midna hadn't even noticed until now. She had been too focused on her nervously-racing heart and how she would win over the prince. She had to do it, for her people, she reminded herself, no matter how much the thought of marrying a man she neither knew nor cared about made her sick.

"If you would, please escort Princess Midna and her guards to their chambers," Prince Eldren said, breaking her from her thoughts.

The guard nodded, and hesitated a moment before stepping forward. He studied the three Twili for a moment, gaze lingering nervously on the ever-silent Ludin for a moment before he took a deep breath and nodded towards the doors of the throne room. "This way, please," he said, guiding them toward the doors and opening one of them to allow them passage.

Once again Midna found herself in the hall, staring almost blankly at a painting on the wall, depicting a stern but kind-looking woman with blonde hair and sky-blue eyes. She didn't wear nearly as much jewelry and fancy silks as the people depicted in the other paintings, and to Midna she seemed like she might have been a little more humble than the rest.

But her thoughts drifted away, to Prince Eldren, and she couldn't help wondering what he was like. Would he treat her fairly? Would he treat her _people_ fairly? Or would he sit around in a pile of plush cushions all day, demanding food from his servants, completely ignoring her and the problems of both their kingdoms?

And, for what might have been the hundredth time that day, she was broken from her thoughts when Salaas whispered, "Your highness?"

She seemed to be getting lost in thought more than usual. With a small sigh, she met his gaze and muttered, "What?"

Salaas motioned to the guard who was to escort them to their chambers, simply standing motionlessly further down the hall, waiting for some kind of response from the Twili princess. "Your highness," he said, nodding to a mahogany door nearby him, "your chambers."

"...Ah. Yes, thank you." Midna forced a smile and strode over to stand before him as he opened the door for her. It led into a sitting room decorated with plush carpets. A long, low wooden table sat in the center of the room, surrounded by comfortable-looking red couches and chairs. There was a fireplace on the far side of the room, and nearby it, a wooden door that probably led to the bedroom portion of the chambers.

Thankfully, Midna thought as she stepped inside, the marble walls were disguised with plenty of colorful tapestries.

Salaas and Ludin followed her inside, and the guard shut the door behind them. Midna investigated the room once more, and noticed another door on the right side of the wall that she hadn't seen before. She opened it and peeked inside, only to see a somewhat small room with five beds surrounding a round wooden table. It was somewhat bare, with only one red rug on the floor beneath the table and nothing else in the room at all.

"That's where you sleep," Midna said with a grin, pointing to the inside of the room and looking pointedly at Ludin and Salaas. The former stepped wordlessly inside, while the latter only sighed and lightly shook his head to himself.

Midna brushed past him, heading toward the door she had first seen upon looking into the room, the one nearby the fireplace. Salaas stopped her with a hand on her arm, and as soon as she turned to face him, he slipped the basket of strawberries into her hand again. In spite of herself, she found herself giving him a slight smile and a nod of thanks - and then she slipped into the other room.

As she had expected, it was a grand room meant for royalty, with tapestries of all sorts decorating the walls, rugs of all colors adorning the floors, and a huge, lavish bed in the middle of it all, covered in golden blankets and draped with a red curtain for privacy. On the left side of the room was a simple but comfortable-looking golden chair sitting before a vanity, and on the opposite side of the room, a red couch with a small wooden table before it, and a fireplace in the wall.

Midna heaved a great sigh and crossed the room to sit on the bed, placing the basket of strawberries beside her. And, upon tasting another one of the delectable fruits, she couldn't help remembering that golden-haired Hylian man with the deep blue eyes. And as she gazed out the only window in the room, gold curtains drawn to the sides, she thought about how familiar he was.

And that memory, the one that had slipped away from her, the one that was so close and yet she couldn't grasp it. Eyes staring blankly into the sky outside her window, she reached for that memory again, absentmindedly taking a bite of the strawberry.

Again the memory slipped from her, and she gave an audible huff of irritation as her gaze refocused on the room around her. Lip curled in annoyance, she tossed the leaves of the strawberry back into the basket. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she shut her eyes and reached, reached again for that memory, whatever it was...

Her mind felt as if it was engulfed in darkness. She could see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing, _remember_ nothing. And yet there was that memory again, like a tiny prick of light in the blackness, and she desperately lunged for it, fingers scrabbling -

And it slipped through them like sand.

But a tiny grain of sand remained on her palm. A fragment of a memory. Her eyes flashed open once more, and she stared down at the bed beneath her, her hands in her lap, and her lips curled into the faintest hint of a smile.

There was a single word in her mind. She had no idea what it meant, or why it was there, but it was a nice word anyway. Perhaps it was a name. She tested it on her lips, and liked the sound of it.

"Link."

* * *

 **A/N: Based on a little oneshot I wrote, and decided I** **couldn't just let it remain as a oneshot. So... since I'm sort of just winging this, I can't make any specific promises neither here nor there, but I'll do my best to finish this story and work hard on it too.**

 **Hopefully this introduction chapter was at least slightly interesting, and if you read it all, thank you so much! I love reviews, and constructive criticism if you have any. I always love to improve. And sorry about all the OCs - that relates to a headcanon I have that will be explained later. ;P**

 **Thanks again!**


	2. Dinner

"It's quite a pleasant day, isn't it?" Prince Eldren said, a smile on his face as he looked up into the cloudless morning sky above him.

They sat on a marble bench in the castle's inner ward, a vast yard filled with meticulously-trimmed hedges and ridiculously straight trees. There was a little fountain in the center of the yard, a single small geyser spewing forth from the center and feeding water into its basin, the bubbling sound of the water creating a soothing sound and a peaceful atmosphere. A thin elegant path surrounded it, trimmed with bright, cheery flowers, and benches like the ones she and the prince sat on were lined along the walls and near the fountain.

"Why, yes, it is," Midna replied with a little fake giggle. She _hated_ acting so fake, so easily pleased, but what else could she do? She had to make the prince believe that she was the ideal woman. After all, if she disappointed him, he could complain to his father about her, and the king might cancel the marriage arrangement.

And if they were not married, the Hyrulians would forever distrust the Twili. If either one of them made the slightest mistake, a war could start. No, it was much safer to marry the prince and form a treaty between the two peoples.

So she wore a mask, no matter how ugly that mask was.

"...and so that's where my sister is, I'm sorry she couldn't be here to meet you," Eldren was saying.

Whoops, Midna thought as she stared at him with blank eyes. Obviously she hadn't been listening, and debated on whether or not she should pretend to have heard him. She decided that pretending wouldn't be a good thing - after all, what if what he had said was important?

"Ah, I apologize deeply, Prince Eldren!" she said, looking at him with feigned regret. "I'm afraid I was so caught up in the beauty of the day that I got a little distracted. What were you saying? Something about your sister?"

The prince only stared at her, and for a moment there was silence between them, broken only by the birds chirping in the trees and the cool breeze tousling her hair.

Midna reluctantly allowed the awkward silence to stretch on, simply waiting for him to say something. If she spoke first, she might upset him more than she already probably had. She watched him, lips pressed together in worry, and realized that he actually didn't seem angry at all. He was merely studying her expression, brow slightly furrowed as if curious, but there was no harshness in his face.

She cleared her throat.

"Right, sorry, how impolite of me," the prince sighed. "I suppose we're both a little distracted today. Anyway, as I was saying, my sister left the castle a few days ago to attend to... a _situation_ in a nearby village. She should be back soon, I hope. I'd love for her to meet you."

Midna smiled at him, a sweet smile that contradicted everything she was thinking and feeling. All she wanted to do was get up, leave the prince, and attend to her own matters. All this stuffy formality was almost more than she could take.

At least he wasn't all bad - he hadn't been rude to her yet, but she wondered if that would change the more she got to know him. Perhaps he, like she, was wearing a mask. And perhaps he would take it off and reveal his true face; a cruel face. And perhaps she was just misjudging him.

"I look forward to meeting her as well," she said, inwardly yawning in boredom, outwardly keeping that fake smile pasted on her face.

Prince Eldren hesitated for a moment, looking at her in something of an awkward silence, as if trying to make his next words count and failing miserably. Instead he settled on repeating, "Yes, I'd love for her to meet you," and then he looked away and sighed.

Awkward silences seemed to be a theme that morning, Midna thought with an inward roll of her eyes. The prince stared down at his hands, clasped in his lap, and absentmindedly laced and unlaced his fingers. She only fidgeted with a lock of her long fiery hair, staring blankly at it and resisting the urge to give a sigh of boredom and irritation.

So awful. So stuffy. So... so boring. Wasn't there anything else she could do?

"I," Midna started, but didn't know what else to say, because her mind was devoid of any kind words. Her only thoughts were sarcastic ones - _No matter how fun this little visit is, I'm going to go find something more entertaining to occupy my time,_ or _As much as I love awkward silences I'd rather be doing something else,_ or even _Heck, I'd rather talk to Ludin right now, which is saying a lot, so I'm going to go do just that._

But of course she couldn't say any of those things. The prince would hate her if she did. And though she didn't care much for his affections, she needed them, for her people's sake.

She opened her mouth again, and allowed the words to spill out of her mouth without even thinking about them - "I'm going to go eat breakfast." Even though she had already eaten breakfast, and the prince knew that. Biting her lip in embarrassment, she quickly glanced away and mentally cursed herself for being such an idiot.

Yet to her surprise, Eldren simply replied with, "Yes, of course. I hope you enjoy your breakfast. I'm going to, er, check on my father. I'd like to see if he's doing any better."

As she turned her red eyes to his golden ones, she resisted the strong urge to smirk, and it took all her willpower to fight back the expression. The poor prince seemed just as bored as she was.

"Yes, of course." She placed a dainty hand over her mouth in an attempt to hide that aforementioned smirk that she couldn't resist any longer. "I do hope he's doing well."

Prince Eldren stared at her for a moment - again, as if studying her, and she noted that this was the third time since she had met him that he'd done that - and she feared he had seen through her ruse and noticed her amused expression. But then he just nodded and stood. "Thank you, Princess Midna, for your time. I enjoy our visits." His tone sounded just a little less than genuine to her ears.

Then he left. She didn't offer her hand for him to kiss. And he didn't ask for it either, even though it was technically protocol.

For a moment Midna only sat on the marble bench, allowing her shoulders to droop and her back to slouch into a more comfortable position than the stiff one she'd been maintaining earlier. A small smile lingered on her lilac lips as she enjoyed the sound of birdsong carried on the breeze. Her eyes closed and, for a moment, she thought she might fall asleep right then and there.

But she decided against it, getting to her feet with great effort - she was suddenly quite tired. She yawned widely, not bothering to cover her mouth, and stretched her arms high above her head.

 _Now what to do?_ she wondered, eyes scanning her surroundings, watching the gentle breeze rustle the flowers all around her. Obviously she had been lying when she'd told Eldren that she was going to eat breakfast. She was full, after all.

Then the hint of a thought -

 _No,_ she immediately told herself, spinning on her heel and heading off toward the small wooden door that led back to the halls of Castle Hyrule. Again she stretched, even though she didn't really need to. She was just trying to distract herself from that _thought._

It nagged at her, refusing to go away, and the harder she tried to get rid of it, the stronger it became.

And, just maybe...

"No," she muttered, aloud this time, striding quickly toward the door as if entering the castle would destroy that accursed thought.

One of the guards standing watch stopped her, saying, "Your highness, you'll need an escort back to your quarters -"

"I don't," she snapped, then immediately regretted it, blinking at the poor, stunned guard who had notably shrunk back at her sharp tone. "I mean," she quickly said, pasting a smile on her face and trying to act apologetic, "I'm so sorry. I'm just a little tired... but I'm not returning to my quarters; I have business to attend to."

Curses. She had admitted that awful thought aloud, even if it was only a vague hint and not the whole idea. What a terrible slip of the tongue - _"I'm not returning to my quarters"_ would be enough to make the guard worry for her well-being. And either he'd insist on accompanying her or he'd fetch Salaas and Ludin to do it. Either option was a terrible one.

"At least let me accompany you wherever you're going," said the guard.

Just as Midna had predicted. It took all her strength of will not to roll her eyes and groan. Instead she kept a horribly fake smile plastered on her face - so obviously fake that even the most brainless of people could understand it wasn't genuine at all. "No, thank you. I'll fetch my bodyguards to accompany me."

"Then I'll help you find them -"

"I can find them on my own, thanks," she interrupted him, her tone growing just slightly more impatient with each word. She was on the verge of snapping again, and instead of risking that possibility, she swept through the door without waiting for any kind of response from the guard.

She didn't pay much attention to the elaborately-decorated halls as she went. All she cared about was escaping this boring castle, with its monotonous marble floors, marble walls, marble ceilings, marble _everything._

She realized she had simply given in to that ridiculous thought of hers without trying to resist it, and she felt pathetic for it.

In an attempt to detract attention from herself, she turned down a separate hallway that led away from the entry hall, and instead slipped silently into the kitchens. The servants and cooks had already started making lunch despite the early hour, but they paused their labors and looked up at the Twili princess. Some of them merely seemed curious; most seemed afraid. Some even visibly shrank back.

The air was uncomfortably warm from the dozen fires blazing in their ovens, and Midna felt sweat beginning to roll down her neck and back as she cast nervous glances at all the people surrounding her. Most stood as far away from her as they could, watching her go with wary expressions, as if expecting her to attack them at any given moment.

Perhaps this hadn't been the best way to leave the castle, after all.

Nonetheless, she slipped out through the small door that led outside into the outer ward, and from there she found her way to the two sets of gates that eventually took her to Castle Town itself.

It was as busy as ever, swarms of people pushing past each other, vendors shouting to be heard above the noise. Taking a deep breath to prepare herself for the uncomfortable feeling of being swept away by the roaring crowd, she straightened her back and squared her shoulders, then took a step forward.

Immediately the mass of bodies crashed into her like an ocean wave, carrying her away, and she could hardly keep herself from tripping over her own two feet and the feet of a hundred other people too. But eventually she steadied herself and, huffing in annoyance, turned in the opposite direction that the crowd was shoving her in and pushed her way between them. She didn't offer any apologies as she roughly shouldered her way through the thick wall of people.

Progress was slow, but eventually she emerged into a smaller side street that wasn't quite as busy - comparatively, anyway. It was still busy enough that she had to shove people out of the way if she wanted to make any progress at all.

It felt like an age before she finally reached her destination, panting with exertion and irritation when she did. Turning her eyes just a little to the left revealed a stall. Not just any normal stall, but a gaudy one with a bright green awning, decorated with patterns of fruit.

Someone crashed into Midna, nearly knocking her to the ground, and he didn't offer an apology as he sped past. Even though she shouted curses after him, she couldn't resist a tiny smile when she glanced to that particular stall again. Her feet started to move almost without her knowledge, and before she could even think properly, she was standing nearby that stall. Behind its counter stood a golden-haired young Hylian man, listening to a Zora woman babble on as she gestured wildly with her hands, long white fins on her elbows flapping with each word she spoke.

"...and that was when the wagon just appeared out of nowhere! The two horses in the front of it were just - just huge, I'm telling you, and they almost trampled me!"

The young Hylian only nodded his head, resting a little on the counter. "But you're fine, aren't you? Or do you need to see a healer?"

The Zora woman shook her head, making the long blue fish-like tail on the back of it swing side to side. "No, I'm fine, but it's been such a _pain_ to get here all the way from the ocean. I would have taken one of the rivers, but, I didn't want to run into any strangers, you know? Sometimes river Zoras can be quite territorial, and, well... You get the point."

He only nodded again, the corners of his lips tilting slightly upward. "I do. I'm glad you managed to get here safely, though. Anyway, will you be buying any -"

"Yes, I'm so glad I'm still in one piece!" she interrupted him, heaving an exasperated sigh and folding her light blue arms across her scaly chest. "Really, you Hyrulians are just so careless. I don't have a very wonderful impression of this place so far. After all, I _still_ don't know what the Week of Faron is, because everyone I ask just ignores me!"

The smile slowly dropped from the young man's lips as she spoke, obviously displeased with her insult to his kingdom and its people, and the fact that she had so rudely interrupted him. "I'm sorry, miss, but," he started, but before he could get any further the woman interrupted him yet again.

"Anyway, I'm sure _you'll_ tell me what the Week of Faron is. You seem slightly more decent than any of your fellow folk."

Still clearly insulted, the Hylian impatiently drummed his fingers on the counter of his stall. For a moment he paused - probably to regain his composure, Midna thought as she watched the spectacle with amusement - then he rested his elbow on the counter and settled his chin in his palm. "Well - let me think of how to explain it," he responded, lightly pursing his lips in thought.

"I don't mean to pressure you, but could you explain it quickly? I need to be off. I want to purchase a few things before this ridiculous crowd takes them all away!" The Zora woman huffed and impatiently tapped her long, finned foot on the cobblestones below.

The Hylian remained staring at her, a tired look in his half-lidded eyes. "Of course," he mumbled, then straightened his posture. " _Faron_ is another name for Farore. Sometimes her chosen guardians will even take that name on themselves. I think it literally means 'Guardian of Courage'. Anyway, the Week of Faron is when we believe Farore first created life, so we celebrate her for an entire week. As you can see, it's a very busy event and tends to attract a lot of visitors from all over the place, because they see a chance to take advantage of the crowds and make a lot of money."

The Zora woman cocked a brow at him - though she didn't have eyebrows, just a couple slightly protruding lines of skin where they were supposed to be. "And you're one of these people? Who wants to take advantage of the situation and make money, I mean." She motioned to his stall, filled with gigantic baskets of fruits and vegetables of all kinds.

He grinned in response. "Yes, I am."

She _harrumphed_ loudly and vigorously shook her head. "You're just like the rest of your people!" And with that, she spun on her heel and strode away through the crowd, the tail-like appendage on the back of her head swinging wildly with every movement.

Midna watched her go, not even bothering to disguise her smirk, and as soon as the obnoxious Zora woman vanished into the seething mass of people, she approached the young man's stall.

"Hey," was her simple greeting as she stopped before the counter. She was tempted to give him a casual grin and lean forward on the counter, but realized how strange that would seem. She didn't even know his name yet; she couldn't treat him as if she'd known him all her life...

So she simply remained standing awkwardly in front of him, trying not to bite her lip in anxiety when he turned his blue eyes to her red ones. She was well aware of how afraid everyone seemed to be of the Twili, and even though he had treated her as a normal person just the day before, she couldn't be sure how long that would last. What if he was suddenly scared of her?

But her worries vanished like night in the face of the rising sun when he gave her an easy, laid-back grin that seemed to glow, just like his bright blue eyes. "You're the one who bought an entire basket of strawberries."

Midna's confidence returned, and she placed a hand to her heart and gave him a far-too-sweet smile. "You remembered! I'm _so_ flattered."

"Hard to forget you, miss."

She blinked at him, unsure of what he meant. Was he, perhaps, referring to her strange Twili features? Was that an insult in disguise? Or something else?

Midna decided to take it as a compliment, and she smirked as she flipped her long fiery hair over her shoulder with a flourish. "I know."

His grin only widened. "So, back for more strawberries, I assume?"

"How did you know?" Her eyes widened in a very exaggerated manner.

"Well, it's kind of obvious, with how many strawberries you bought yesterday..." Then he narrowed his eyes at her. "You didn't eat them all already, did you?"

"I did."

"Unbelievable."

She only smirked.

"Unfortunately I'm all out of strawberries - thanks to you."

Her smirk dropped, and she tried to hide her disappointment. "...Oh," she mumbled after a long pause.

It was obvious that she had failed to disguise her disappointment, because the Hylian lowered his eyes as if he felt guilty, and awkwardly fidgeted with one of his earrings for a moment. "Sorry about that," he finally said.

"No, it's fine," Midna replied, trying to return to her normal cheery demeanor. What were a few strawberries, anyway? They didn't matter. And they weren't even the main reason she had come here, she had to admit to herself. But still - it would have been nice to have a few to stuff her face with, especially since the strawberries he sold were the best she'd ever tasted.

"But," he said quickly, something of a smile returning to his face, "we have plenty more... back at the farm, though. You'd have to wait a bit while I went to get them. Or..." He trailed off, and again averted his eyes, as if unsure of himself.

Midna raised a brow. "Or what?" she asked curiously, trying not to seem _too_ interested in what he was about to say.

She was surprised when she swore she saw a tinge of pink on his cheeks. "Nothing," he said quickly, still staring down at his feet, refusing to meet her eyes. She blinked in confusion, wondering what in the world he was thinking. "If you don't mind staying here for a bit," he continued, "I could go get some for you."

"I... Well, I guess." She searched his face with eyes narrowed in thought, still curious as to what he had been about to say. Deciding to make a bold move, she leaned forward across the counter, resting her elbows on its surface and her chin in her palms. "But, you know, I'm still curious about that 'or'. Really, 'or' what? You can't just leave me hanging like that!"

Again he grinned, though this time it was a bit of an embarrassed expression. He finally lifted his eyes to hers again and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Just something idiotic, I was going to ask you if you wanted to come to our farm with me, I mean, lots of people do it, come directly to our farm - they even get a discounted price if they pick their own fruits and vegetables instead of making us do it and there's a ton more produce there so you could get as many strawberries as you wanted..." He spoke quickly, one word tripping over the next one, until his entire explanation was something of a chaotic mess that Midna had to pause and think about for a moment before she finally understood.

Then she smirked. "Inviting me over and you don't even know my name yet!" she teased, enjoying the way he quickly looked back down to his shoes, and his face flamed as red as her eyes.

"W-what?" he stuttered, shifting his weight and reaching up to fidget with an earring again. "No, you're not... I don't -"

"It's Midna, by the way."

He stopped and slowly lifted his gaze once again, staring at her for a moment but with faraway eyes, as if he was trying to imprint the name in his memory. "Nice to meet you, Midna." Eventually the bright red color began to fade from his cheeks, and he was able to give her a much less awkward smile that time.

"But you never told me your name," she said with a frown.

"Right. Sorry." His smile turned sheepish. "It's Link."

 _Link._ Midna's eyes widened, remembering that word - no, that _name_ , the one that had come to her and she hadn't understood what it meant or why she'd been thinking of it.

But now it all made sense.

No... no, of course it didn't. None of it made sense. Why would she know his name before he had even told it to her? Why did he seem so familiar, and why was it that she felt she could tease him as if she'd known him for a lifetime? What was _wrong_ with her? Why was she acting this way when it was all just a pathetic coincidence?

She pulled her lips into a smile and straightened, smoothing out a few wrinkles in her dress as she did so. "Nice to meet you too, Link."

He hesitated for a moment, as if unsure of what to say, then shifted his weight and said, "So," drawing out the word for a while.

"I'd love to come to your farm and steal all of your strawberries, if that's what you're wondering about," Midna told him with a teasing grin.

"Great, then I won't have to pick them myself."

"Wow, what a gentleman you are."

He only laughed. A pleasant, genuine laugh, bright as the sun. And she realized that most things about him could be compared to the sun - his golden hair, the brightness in his eyes, that smile of his. But instead of lingering on such idiotic thoughts, she spun on her heel and strode away through the crowd without even waiting for him to follow, calling over her shoulder, "Where's this farm of yours?"

"Hey, wait!" she heard him shouting behind her, and she hadn't realized how far she had already gone, completely leaving poor Link in the dust.

With an excited grin, she spun on her heel, hair flying about her face like fire. "Hurry up, the day isn't getting any younger here!" she called in return.

Link shoved his way through a few people to reach her, and stopped before her with a sigh. "You really couldn't have waited for me to put some things away and catch up?"

"Nope."

"Wonderful."

It was only now that they were standing in front of each other like this, unimpeded by the counter of the stall, that she realized how short he was - or maybe she was just tall, she wasn't quite sure. Either way, he was almost a head shorter than her, and at the realization she had the strangest urge to teasingly pat his head. It felt like a familiar motion, and she almost did it without thinking. Her hand even lifted a few inches from her side, hovered awkwardly there, and then quickly dropped to its proper place once she realized what was happening. She swallowed heavily, mortified over what she had almost done.

Something about this young Hylian man made her feel like an idiot, and she couldn't quite pinpoint why. But whatever it was, she cursed it.

Noticing her silence, Link slowly pointed to the right. "It's... it's this way, if you're wondering."

Midna pushed her thoughts away and sighed. "How far away?"

"Not too far, especially if you have a horse."

A frown crossed her lips for a moment. "Which I don't."

"No need to worry, then, I've got two."

Her brow furrowed. "Two? Why two?"

Link grinned. "Well, my brother came with me and was supposed to help me tend to the stall, but instead he wandered off to take in all the sights... so I'm sure he won't mind if we borrow his horse for a while."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure he won't mind at _all._ "

He motioned for her to follow him as he made his way through the bustling crowd. Unlike her, he didn't try to forcefully push his way past people, merely took advantage of the few small openings he saw and occasionally muttered a polite "Excuse me" before continuing on.

Of course, Midna was the exact opposite, shoving anyone who got too close and forcefully clearing a path for herself. Multiple times someone would glare at her or curse her under their breath, but she merrily ignored them all, focusing intently on following Link as she tried to wipe the pathetic smile off her face.

Maybe, she thought as they finally escaped the crowds and came to stand at the borders of Castle Town, maybe she felt so comfortable around him just because he was the only Hyrulian she had met so far that was not only unafraid of her, but kind to her as well.

Open fields were what surrounded Castle Town, green and vast and beautiful, with no end in sight, simply fading off into the distance and becoming one with the sky above. The gentle morning breeze made the purple and white wildflowers dance, and Midna couldn't help shutting her eyes and smiling at the cool feeling of it against her skin. It felt wonderful to be away from that horrible crowd.

Nearby there was a small wooden fence surrounding a squat building, white paint peeling, and two horses were tethered to the fencepost. One horse was small, white, speckled with gray. It looked a little old and tired, the way it simply stared down at the grass as Link untied it, and the way it plodded over to Midna at Link's urging with a slow and thoughtful gait.

"Here." He presented the horse's reins to her. "Do you know how to ride?"

"I'm not sure," she responded honestly, hesitantly accepting the reins and absently running a thumb across their surface. "We Twili don't actually ride horses. We ride... other things. I don't think the two creatures are very similar, so... no, I probably don't know how to ride."

"Hmm." Link paused, as if unsure of how to explain riding to her. He shifted from one foot to the other for a moment. "I guess, first off -"

But before he could get any further, Midna decided to see if she could swing up into the saddle. She treated the horse like she would a creature from her own kingdom, placing a foot in its stirrup and swinging up. Her fingers curled tight around the reins, expecting the beast beneath her to screech and shake its back in protest for a while.

Then she remembered that this was a horse, and one that seemed very gentle at that. It hardly even moved beneath her, only stood there staring at the ground, sides slowly expanding and shrinking with each breath it took.

The shape of a horse's back was much different from what she was used to. Much more comfortable, Midna realized. She easily settled into the saddle and gave a little smile of contentment.

Link chuckled softly and stroked the white horse's nose. It gave a quiet whinny in response, but nothing other than that. "This is Snow," he explained, fingers still lightly tracing the horse's nose. "She's my brother's horse. A bit old, but you'll find none gentler."

Midna only stared at the creature beneath her, unsure of what to make of its docile behavior.

"Try petting her neck," Link suggested. "She seems to like you already; I'm sure she won't mind."

Midna hesitated, staring at the young man before her with something of a suspicious look. Then, slowly, she reached down and warily patted the horse's neck. Though she had been expecting it to rear up as high as it could and throw her off, it didn't. It remained standing just as calmly as ever.

 _Hyrulian creatures are so strange,_ she thought to herself.

Link left her sitting on Snow's back as he went to retrieve the second horse, and untied that one from the fencepost as well. Midna looked up and her eyes widened in surprise. This horse might well have been a beast - it was gigantic and muscular, its coat a shimmering brown, mane white, as well as the tip of its nose and the fur near its thick hooves. Those hooves looked suspiciously sharp, Midna thought, and watched as the creature whinnied and rammed its head so hard into Link's shoulder that he very nearly fell over.

But instead of chiding the horse, he only laughed and affectionately stroked its muzzle. "This is Epona," he said, voice laced with obvious pride, and he never took his eyes from the large, warm brown ones of his horse. "She's mine."

"She's huge."

"Isn't she?" Epona neighed loudly and tossed her head, then shoved her nose into her master's shoulder and snorted. Link only chuckled again and patted her neck, then walked to her side and swung up into her saddle with the ease of one who had been riding horses his entire life. Hands loosely clasping her reins, he gave a simple twist of his wrists and Epona walked up beside Snow. Sitting astride his horse, he was suddenly _much_ taller than Midna, and she had to crane her neck to look up at him. "Should we go, then?" he said.

Midna furrowed her brow and stared down at the reins, clutched tightly in her hands, and she wasn't quite sure how to use them. She gave them a small flick and, to her pleasant surprise, Snow set off at a very manageable trot. Link followed behind on his monster of a horse, smiling at the woman before him. "You're a natural."

"Apparently so," she responded, shooting a grin in his direction.

He looked away, eyes scanning the blue horizon. For a moment there was silence, broken only by the sounds of their horses' hooves beneath them. "What kind of creatures do you ride where you come from?" Link eventually asked.

"We call them Kargaroks," Midna began excitedly, happy that he wanted to know more about her and her culture. He didn't want to shy away from it like the rest of his people. Truly, she admired him for it. "They're big black creatures, almost like birds but... not even close, at the same time. They have long talons and big leathery wings, and they don't have heads."

At this, Link turned to her with wide eyes, and only stared at her for a moment before narrowing his eyes in disbelief. "What? That isn't possible."

She smirked at him. "It is. They just have a neck and no head. Even though they're blind - you know, lack of eyes - they have ears, and hear really well. The way they 'see' is by making a loud trumpeting noise, which echoes off of nearby objects and tells them where things are, thus helping them avoid crashing into obstacles."

"But -" Link stared off into the distance again with his brow furrowed, lips slightly pursed as they usually were when he was thinking. "But how do they eat if they have no mouth?"

She couldn't help giggling. "I tell you about giant headless winged beasts and all you can think about is how they eat?"

"It's a legitimate concern," he protested.

Still grinning, Midna explained, "It's simple. They don't worry about biting and chewing. They cut straight to the chase by closing their gigantic necks around their prey and swallowing it whole."

"... I have no idea how that works, but all right." He looked at her with a raised brow, to which she responded with a light shrug. "So then, how have I never heard of these creatures before?"

"Well, as I'm sure you know, it was only fifty years ago that the Twili were allowed to leave their prison and step into Hyrule again. But we couldn't just leave our homes and everything behind, so we took some of the things necessary to survive. We needed mounts, so we brought the Kargaroks. We needed food so we brought some from the Twilight Realm. And of course we brought our magic with us - peaceful magic, obviously," she hurried to say, afraid that he might change his mind about tolerating her presence if he thought she was a threat. "Anyway - the rest of the world hasn't really seen Kargaroks because there are no wild ones. They're all kept as trained mounts that we use to get around."

There was a thoughtful expression on Link's face as he absently curled and uncurled his fingers around Epona's reins. Then after a pause he turned to look at her with a smile. "So did you come flying into Hyrule on a Kargarok's back?"

"Hah! I wish!" Midna laughed, a genuine laugh, one where she threw her head back and released, for a moment, all her amusement. "Wouldn't that be a sight! I can just imagine the terror on the faces of the Hyrulians when they see a headless, winged black monster flying toward them with a Twili woman on its back. It would be priceless!"

Link couldn't help chuckling a little, too. "You're right, it's quite the mental image."

Still grinning widely, Midna craned her neck to look up at him. "You'd be running in fear, I bet."

"Probably," he agreed with a sigh, shaking his head to himself at the terrifying thought of the Kargaroks.

A companionable silence passed between them then. They rode on for a minute or two before, suddenly, Epona burst into a gallop. Link released an excited _whoop!_ and didn't even try to stop her. And Snow, despite being such a placid creature thus far, suddenly decided that she wanted to race. So she surged forth without warning, hooves churning up grass and dirt as she sprinted toward Epona. Midna gave a shout of surprise and held tight to the reins, but almost immediately calmed down. Riding a Kargarok was much more difficult, and this was peaceful in comparison. With a smile she allowed her eyes to drift shut, heart singing a song of freedom as the wind whipped her hair behind her and whistled in her ears.

It was amazing, she thought, and never wanted the moment to end.

But end it did, for it had to, and she was disappointed when she heard Link saying "whoa, girl, whoa" and felt Snow slowing down beneath her. Her eyes reluctantly fluttered open, and there was a slight frown on her lips when she saw Epona slowing and Snow just following along like the obedient mare she was.

"Here we are," Link announced, slipping off the back of his gigantic horse and landing, agile as a cat, on the ground. "Sorry about that, Epona knew we were close to home and got excited." He stepped up to Snow's side and held a hand out, which Midna accepted with a sigh and allowed him to help her out of the saddle.

"We should do that more often," she said with a grin.

He smiled in reply. "Sure. As long as you let me ride one of your weird headless birds sometime."

Midna laughed. "It's a promise." She looked around, noticing a simple but cute little white farmhouse situated in the center of vast fields of vegetables and fruits, stretching as far as the eye could see. There were little wooden sheds here and there of which she didn't know their purpose, but assumed they were tool sheds or something similar. There was also a stable, surrounded by a wooden fence that created a rather large, pleasant pen for plenty of horses to run around in. And there were definitely plenty of horses of all sizes and colors, most of them peacefully grazing at the emerald grass and some of them running free with the wind in their manes.

All in all, a very quiet, lovely place, Midna thought. If it weren't for the small crowd gathered there.

She hadn't been expecting to see people at the farm, but she remembered Link telling her something about letting people pick their own produce and giving them a reduced price for it. She assumed that was what was happening here, because there were women and men and children alike, all greedily plucking as many vegetables and fruits as they could and stuffing them into large wicker baskets.

"The strawberries are over here," Link told her, pointing to a particular section of the ripe farmlands, quite a few yards away. "And we have plenty of other things if you'd like them too."

"Thank you," she said, trying not to let the other people there dampen her mood. Why should she care about them, anyway?

A woman reaching for a head of lettuce stopped when she saw the Twili princess, letting her hand dangle mid-air as her eyes widened a little in surprise. Quickly she plucked the lettuce, stuffed it into her basket, then stood and scurried away as if her life depended on it.

And that was why she didn't like the idea of being surrounded by people, Midna realized.

Link disappeared into one of the nearby sheds and returned a second later holding a basket. Without saying anything, he began to pluck strawberries and place them gingerly inside. "How many do you want?" he asked, not looking up from his task.

She grinned with joy and hurried to stand beside him, watching him pick plenty of her favorite fruit. "The whole basket full."

"I should have known."

They were interrupted, unfortunately, when a large woman stepped out of the farmhouse and walked over to them, carrying a basket filled with assorted produce on each arm. Her short blonde hair was messy, and her simple pink dress rumpled. Her jaw was clenched and there was a distressed look in her blue-gray eyes.

"Link!" she shouted, even though she was right next to him, and he winced at the loud noise.

"Yes, mother?"

"Why aren't you tending to the stall? Where's your brother? And -" But the woman stopped immediately when she noticed Midna, and her already-wide eyes widened even further. "Who's this?" she demanded.

"Midna," was Link's casual response.

His mother narrowed her eyes in suspicion, and Midna only glared right back at her. Which was probably the wrong choice, because then the woman scoffed and turned away, grabbing Link's arm and dragging him, ignoring his protests, across the yard. "Don't you know what that thing is?" she hissed, probably thinking that she was far enough away that Midna wouldn't hear her.

And that was where she was wrong. Midna's lip curled at the insult.

"That thing? _She_ is a Twili, mother, if that's what you're talking about," Link huffed in annoyance.

"Exactly! Don't you know what the Twili are? They aren't to be trusted. Why in the sweet name of the Sacred Realm would you bring her here? Now that she knows where we live, she could kill us all in our sleep! Burn down our farm!"

Even from where she stood, quite a few yards away from the conversation, Midna could see Link's eyes narrow. "She won't do that."

"How do you know?"

"She's here to buy some produce, just like any other normal person." He motioned to the people scattered here and there, kneeling down, plucking various fruits and vegetables and stuffing them into their baskets.

His mother pressed her lips into a disapproving line. "Just get her out of here. Now."

Link said nothing, only turned and walked away from the woman without another word. Midna couldn't help feeling a bit flattered that he'd stood up for her, even though she was still inwardly seething in rage.

Suddenly there was a basket hanging off her arm, and Midna glanced down to find that Link had put it there. To her surprise it was already completely filled with strawberries. "Sorry about her," Link sighed, nervously running a hand through his hair. "She's..."

"A narrow-minded fool?"

"To put it mildly."

Midna clenched her jaw. "Sorry."

"It's fine, really."

She looked down at the basket on her arm, and couldn't help smiling, just a little. "How much?" But as soon as the words left her mouth, she realized she'd forgotten her rupees back at the castle. They were lying in the drawer of the vanity, because she hadn't actually been planning to leave the castle and purchase anything... _Curses,_ she thought with a grimace.

"Free," Link replied nonchalantly, and she snapped her head up to look at him in disbelief.

"Free? What?"

He scratched nervously at his ear and looked down at his feet with a sigh. "For making you come all the way out here. And the trouble with my mother."

"But -"

"Just take them."

She hesitated for a little while, staring uncomfortably at the dozens of little red fruits lying in the basket. She didn't know what to say to him, because "thank you" wouldn't suffice, and he had done so much for her already without any reason to.

It was nice to know that there were Hyrulians who did not fear her.

When she didn't respond, Link told her, "I should be returning to the stall now."

"Right. I should be... returning, too," she said hesitantly, looking up at him and studying his face. "You're sure this is fine?"

"Of course it is," he replied with a faint smile, leading her back to the horses.

Midna swallowed heavily, unsure of what to make of his kindness. She stopped beside Snow, staring at the old white horse for a moment before releasing a sigh. She adjusted the basket on her arm and, still not looking at Link, said, "Thank you."

"Sure." He swung onto Epona's saddle, and she neighed and danced on her hooves, excited to ride once more. "Should we go?"

"Yeah."

* * *

"I can't believe it, your highness," Salaas groaned, rubbing his forehead in distress, eyes squeezed shut. "You ran off, without an escort. Again. And for what? To purchase _strawberries?"_

The Twili princess shrugged and apathetically inspected her nails. "Yeah, so?"

 _"So,_ your highness, I was given the task to protect you. And do you remember who gave me this task?"

"That's such an obvious question that I feel like you're just mocking me... so I'm not even going to answer."

Salaas ground his teeth together and dropped his hands to his sides, clenching and unclenching his fists in a desperate attempt to calm himself down. "Your father!" he hissed. "The king himself! If he discovers how much I've failed in the task he set to me, he might just throw me in the dungeons!"

Midna leaned back in her plush red chair, mindlessly chewing a strawberry as she watched the fire dance in the hearth. The evening was young and yet already quite cold, so she scooted her chair just a bit closer to the flames before settling back once more and picking another strawberry from her basket to gnaw on. "You're exaggerating, Salaas, calm down. Father's more rational than you're making him out to be."

Again her bodyguard ground his teeth together, and began to pace back and forth in front of the fireplace, mumbling something unintelligible but no doubt insulting under his breath.

"Anyway," Midna said around a mouthful of fruit, picking up the basket and handing it to Salaas, "take this down to the kitchen and tell the cooks to make me a pie from the remaining strawberries."

Salaas shot her a glare, and only stood there for a moment, staring at her with nostrils flaring as if he was resisting to urge to say a few choice words to the princess. Then he heaved a sigh and took the basket from her, shoving it in Ludin's face. "You heard her."

Ludin, who Midna had completely forgotten was sitting nearby her in a different chair, only stared up at Salaas with cold eyes, and a silence even colder.

Salaas nervously shifted his weight, then withdrew the basket of fruit and shook his head. "Fine, I'll take it to the kitchens myself. But only if you escort her highness to dinner."

Ludin stood wordlessly, and stared down at Midna with those pure orange eyes of his.

Dinner, Midna thought with a groan. She had forgotten all about her promise to attend dinner with Prince Eldren. With her lip curled in annoyance, she stood as Salaas left the room with her basket in his hand, and he shut the door behind him.

A silence fell between them for a while, of course, since Ludin rarely said anything in the first place. Beginning to feel uncomfortable, Midna swallowed heavily and fixed a few nonexistent wrinkles in her dress. "So... let's go, I guess?"

Still Ludin said nothing, only walked to the door and held it open for her, waiting for her to exit.

Midna hesitated, remembering that, the moment she had returned to her chambers, she had changed into a more comfortable gown - a simple black thing with almost no shape to it. But she didn't care much about the dress itself; she was more concerned about its sleeves, short things that only fell to her elbows and revealed the complicated maze of faintly-glowing cyan markings on her forearms. Since she thought they looked tacky, she usually tried to hide them with sleeves, but she didn't have time to change now. She was probably late for dinner already.

So she simply shrugged and strode out the door. Prince Eldren knew she was a Twili, so if he couldn't deal with a few markings native to her people, then they were going to have problems.

Ludin led her to the dining hall, which, shockingly, looked _exactly_ like the rest of the castle - marble floors, marble walls, marble ceilings, a red rug on the floor and a crystal chandelier on the ceiling. All these ridiculous rooms looked exactly the same to her, and she didn't understand how anyone could live in such a dull place.

Despite her boredom, she forced herself to sit at the long wooden table, across from Eldren, who had already been sitting down for who knew how long. "I apologize deeply," Midna said with a fake smile. "It seems I lost track of the time! I do hope you weren't waiting too long?"

Eldren smiled in return, and she couldn't help thinking that it looked a little less than genuine. "Not at all. No need to concern yourself."

Just then a maid stepped up to the table, carrying two large platters piled with chicken, pork, vegetables and fruits of all kinds, and a fat roll on the side. She set down one of the platters before the prince, and the other one in front of Midna. "Your meal," she said, bowing low. Then she remained standing there, just in case she was needed.

Other than Midna, Eldren, Ludin, the maid, and a few guards, the dining hall was empty. She and the prince were the only ones seated at the large table, and it made her feel lonely, in a way. And even though she really didn't want to be there, she daintily lifted her fork anyway and took a small bite of chicken. She didn't stuff copious amounts of it into her mouth like she was usually inclined to do, because, of course, she had to impress the prince.

She had been wearing this mask for not even three days now, and already she was sick to death of it.

She chewed the meat slowly, making sure her mouth didn't move too much, and she certainly didn't chew it with her mouth open - even though she wanted to. When she had swallowed it, she moved on to take a tiny, delicate bite of the steaming mashed potatoes, and when she had swallowed that too, she went to taste the deliciously-seasoned carrots.

"A delicious meal, to be sure. You have wonderful cooks, Prince Eldren," Midna said, covering her mouth with a hand.

"I think so, too," he replied once he had swallowed his bite of pork.

And then silence reigned supreme. It was clear that neither of them knew what to say, so they simply focused on eating their meals without speaking a word to each other. Midna swore she could have heard a hat drop. And the sound would have echoed far and wide across the awkwardly silent dining hall.

Deciding that she couldn't stand the horrible silence, Midna said, "My gratitude to you for inviting me to this lovely meal."

Prince Eldren took a deep breath and gave her a faint smile. "Of course, Princess Midna. How could I not? It's... quite a pleasure to visit with you."

"Yes, I feel the same," she responded, and almost forgot to hide the listlessness in her voice. She barely managed to fix her mistake by giving a tiny, girly giggle that seemed so out of place with the awkward mood that had been building up.

 _If I'm to marry the prince, I have to wear this mask for the rest of my life,_ Midna thought to herself with horror, and only barely managed to hide the hateful curl of her lip behind her hand. She couldn't help it; the thought of wearing this awful, stuffy mask until the day she died was enough to drive her mad. Already she longed to take it off, just to breathe the fresh air again for a moment, but obviously she couldn't do that.

Couldn't do it for her people's sake.

Was it really worth it?

She lifted her eyes from her food to find the prince, studying her yet again, like he seemed so prone to do. The moment he noticed her looking at him, he quickly averted his gaze and stuffed a much-too-large chunk of pork into his mouth.

"Are you enjoying Hyrule so far?" he asked once he had swallowed.

"Oh yes," she responded immediately, not wanting to seem hesitant. After all, if she acted, for even a moment, like she hadn't been enjoying her stay, then she risked offending Eldren. And she couldn't do that. Couldn't do a lot of things, really, and she hated it. Hated it all. "It's a lovely kingdom," she continued with an overly-sweet smile in an attempt to disguise the frustration boiling up inside her. "Very quaint. Of course, I still don't know as much about it as I'd like to, and I am looking forward to staying here and learning more about such a wonderful kingdom."

"I'm so glad you feel that way," was Eldren's simple response, and this time she was sure that there was a note of apathy to his voice. No longer could she say she'd been imagining his mounting boredom. It was there, obvious as sunlight.

They finished their dinner in silence, and the maid took their dishes away. "I'll fetch dessert," she said as she left.

"Actually," Midna hurried to say before the girl vanished from the dining hall altogether, "I've asked the cooks to make me a strawberry pie, so I won't be needing dessert." After all, if she ate dessert, that would mean staying in this miserable place even longer, and she didn't know if she could take it. The mask was becoming more than boring. It was constricting.

"Oh." The maid looked to Prince Eldren. "Your highness?"

He dabbed at his lips with a napkin. "I think I'm quite full, but thank you."

"All right then," the maid said, seeming a bit confused at their lack of interest in dessert. She adjusted the platters on her hands and sighed. "Do you need anything else?"

Eldren looked to Midna, and she shook her head. "No thanks," he said, and with a nod the maid left.

"Then, if you'll excuse me?" Midna asked, voice almost desperate, because she needed a break, needed somewhere to rest away from this stuffy place before she snapped.

Eldren hesitated for a moment, and looked at her, and she wondered if he had seen through her ruse, if he knew how much she hated all of this. "Of course," he finally said, standing from his chair. "It's getting late, after all."

Midna heaved a sigh of relief and stood as well, then turned to the side - only to see a pair of blank orange eyes staring back at her. She jumped in surprise, having completely forgotten that Ludin never left. But to be so surprised at something so ridiculous? Truly she was on the verge of snapping. She needed a break, and she needed it _now._

"Ludin," she sighed, resisting the urge to rub her temples in distress. "Why don't you... go to the kitchens and see how my pie is doing?"

The Twili man hesitated for only a moment before he turned and left without a word.

Midna very nearly followed him, but realized it would be impolite to leave the prince without saying anything. So she took a deep breath, and it trembled a little against her will. "Thank you so very much for the wonderful meal, Prince Eldren."

"Of course."

"Good night." Then without waiting for any kind of response from him, she turned on her heel and strode out of the dining hall with urgency, as if her life depended on it. And once she was free of the awful room, she felt like she could actually _breathe_ -

"Princess Midna."

Her heart skipped a beat, and she stopped mid-step, glancing over her shoulder to discover that the source of the voice was, of course, Eldren. And the mask went straight back on, and she felt as if she couldn't breathe again. She forced a tremulous smile onto her lips. "Yes?"

He cast a glance around the hallway, as if checking to make sure they were alone. Which, of course they were. He took a step toward her, and she swallowed heavily, asking, "What is it?"

Eldren laced his hands behind his back and heaved a deep sigh. "Correct me if I'm wrong... but I feel like you're not being completely honest with me."

Midna's hand flew to her mouth in feigned hurt. In reality, she was just curious about what he had to say - if not, admittedly, a little worried. "Whatever makes you think such a thing?"

"It's obvious - the way you force yourself to smile, the way your eyes show clear irritation and boredom even when you pretend to be happy. Everything you do is just... fake." He studied her face again, the same way he had so many times before, and she finally realized just what he was doing - seeing beyond her mask.

Her heart leaped, and she slowly dropped her hand from her mouth, allowing it to hang loosely at her side. "...Oh?"

"Please, princess. I want to know who you _really_ are. I don't want to talk to a facade. I want to talk to _you._ "

 _This just got interesting,_ Midna thought, and she bit her lip, wondering what to do. She knew the prince wouldn't like it if she showed him what she _really_ acted like. But at the same time... he had just issued her a very interesting challenge. And she wasn't the type to turn down such a challenge.

"You wouldn't like the real me," she warned him.

"Give me a chance, at least..."

A slow smirk spread across her lips. "Fine, then. I'll take off my mask." And she did. The mask fell, and she could finally _breathe_ again, breathe the sweet air around her and breathe it freely.

Prince Eldren smiled. Genuinely, for once, and she realized his smile wasn't so bad. "Good. So will I."

"How interesting," Midna drawled, her smirk turning to a grin.

Eldren bowed his head to her. "Good night then, princess. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I look forward to it," she responded. And for once, she meant it.

* * *

 **A/N: This chapter was quite long, for my standards anyway. I usually write shorter things. But I felt that _something_ dealing with Eldren needed to happen at the end there, so the chapter just kept getting longer and longer. xD ****Anyway, for better or for worse, this length might not be normal for future chapters.**

 **Thanks so much for reading!**


	3. Breakfast with a Princess

Sunlight. Far too much of it.

A knocking sound, coming from somewhere nearby... "Your highness, you'll be late."

Late to what? She didn't care. Midna turned onto her stomach with a groan, covering her head with her fat, plush pillow and drowning out the world.

But that persistent knocking continued. Of course it did; nothing was kind enough to leave her alone in the morning and allow her to sleep. "Your highness!" The voice rang sharper that time, and Midna huffed in irritation, sitting up on her bed with hair a tangled mess on her head, looking more like fiery straw than anything else.

"What?" she snapped, groggy eyes half-lidded.

"You'll be late," the voice on the other side of the door repeated, and she finally recognized it as belonging to Salaas.

Late? "For what?"

"Your meeting with the prince, obviously..."

Her eyes shot open, and she scrambled out of bed, tossing the thick blankets aside with not a care for where they went or how messy they looked. "Oh, Din," she hissed to herself as she stumbled across the rug-covered floor of her room, groggy vision shrouding everything in a blurry veil.

Of course she had to forget. It was quite like her, she thought with a hiss of annoyance as she fumbled for the brush lying on her vanity and tore it through the rat's nest on her head.

"Are you coming?" Salaas asked from the other side of the door, followed by a sigh of impatience.

A meeting with the prince. Why her, why now? But she already knew the answers to those questions - how silly of her to even think them in the first place. Her, because she was the princess of the Twili, and this marriage was for the best of her people. Now, because the prince wanted to meet with her as often as possible. Of course he did, the scum...

Wait -

A memory flickered through her mind, of last night's dinner. Not so much dinner, but the events afterward, and at the thought of them her heart skipped a beat.

Prince Eldren had seen through her mask. He wanted her to take it off; to reveal who she truly was beneath all the lies, all the deception, all the pretending.

And she'd be glad to show him.

Midna smirked as she tied her hair into a high ponytail, and did nothing else with it. If he truly wanted to get to know her, and not the facade she'd been wearing ever since they had first met, then he'd have to get used to the fact that she didn't much care for her appearance. Not _too_ much, anyway.

She still cared enough to take out the messy ponytail and brush it until it shone, then she tied it up again.

After donning a loose black dress adorned with orange embroidery that matched her hair, she cast a glance to the window - and realized that it was quite late into the morning. With a gasp of panic, she practically tore the door open and sprinted out of her room, dress flying around her ankles. "I'm late!" she panicked, nearly crashing into Salaas.

He barely managed to move out of the way, giving a grunt of annoyance. "That's what I've been trying to say for the past ten minutes, your highness." Then he fell into step beside her as she flung open the door that led into the halls of the castle, but she whirled to face him with eyes narrowed.

"I don't need you to accompany me."

"Yes, you do. You wandered off last time I wasn't there."

"Fine." Midna huffed, and ignored him, opting instead to continue her quick stride through the halls, bare feet quiet as a whisper against the carpet. It wasn't like she had time to argue with him, anyway.

Salaas followed close like a shadow, and the two of them navigated the twisting halls of the castle until they emerged into the inner ward. It took them a while, because curse the halls - they all looked the same - but eventually they made it. Although Midna was even more late than she already was, now.

She discovered Prince Eldren sitting on a marble bench, leaning forward with an elbow on his knee, chin propped up on his palm. An unmistakable look of boredom dulled his eyes - but the moment he took notice of the Twili princess, his eyes glowed bright golden again, and he stood to meet her. "Princess."

Midna smirked. "Prince." She shot a glare to Salaas - and he glared right back at her. But she glared fiercer, and finally he backed away, allowing her at least the smallest measure of privacy.

Confidence radiated off her very being with each step she took - confidence, because now she could be herself rather than someone else.

At least, she hoped. Perhaps the prince would despise her true self so deeply that he would have her thrown out of the kingdom.

Eldren extended a hand, quietly asking for hers, to kiss it - as was protocol. And Midna offered her hand to him - though instead of letting him kiss it, she simply shook his hand with a grin and then pulled it away again. He cocked a brow at her, but there was a smile of amusement on his lips.

"So, what are the plans for today?" Midna studied her nails as if disinterested. "Sit around on a bench and prattle on about useless things such as the weather and the color of the grass until we both die of boredom?"

"Nothing so dull," the prince responded with a smile. "Though, to be honest, I actually didn't have any plans. I wanted to ask you what _you_ wanted to do."

"How flattering." Midna grinned at him. "Are you trying to worm your way into my heart?"

"Yes," he replied in a teasing tone, almost without hesitation.

And it was Midna's turn to cock a brow at him now. "Well, it isn't working, so you might as well stop wasting your efforts."

Eldren chuckled, presenting his palms to her in a gesture of peace. "I'm sorry, then. Please forgive me."

"I'll consider it."

A smile still lingered on his lips, even after a somewhat awkward silence passed between the two. "Actually, come to think of it, I do have something of a plan."

"I knew it. You liar," and Midna shook her head at him in mock disappointment.

"My apologies. At any rate, my sister returned very early this morning, and I really _would_ love for the two of you to meet. If you wish."

Though Midna didn't want to, she had to admit to herself it was a good idea. How else would she acquaint herself with the royal family? So far she had only met the prince, not the princess or the king, and what better time to meet them than now?

So she gave him a smile, and a single nod. "Why not?"

"I'm glad to hear that." Eldren grinned.

"Will your father be there too? I haven't met him yet."

"Ah, he still isn't feeling well." Eldren heaved a deep sigh and lowered his gaze, impeccably-polished black boot absentmindedly scuffing at the grass, upheaving the little green blades. "We're actually getting a bit worried about him. Mother fell to this same illness quite a few years ago, and..." He trailed off, as if he didn't want to continue.

Midna's lips dropped, and she studied his face with concern. "I'm... sorry," she mumbled, unsure of what else to say. Admittedly, she was terrible at comforting people. Something a princess was supposed to be skilled in doing. What a _wonderful_ princess she was...

"It's all right. Mother was always physically weak; she nearly died when she had both me and, later, my sister. Father is much stronger than her, and the physician thinks he'll be fine." Eldren looked up once more to meet her gaze and forced a tenuous smile. "So - my sister. I already asked her if she wanted to meet you, and she agreed. Er, have you eaten breakfast yet?"

This time Midna's smile was sheepish. "No... I woke up late and didn't have time to. I thought I'd already kept you waiting long enough..."

"It's no trouble," Eldren assured her. "Then, would you care to share breakfast with my sister and I?"

"Of course! You'll find I'm always open to eating food." Midna grinned at him, and Eldren gave a light chuckle, lacing his hands behind his back as he turned away from her.

"Follow me, then, if you will," he directed, and she obeyed.

As they entered the castle once more, Salaas fell into step beside the princess, shooting her a look of confusion, as if asking what they were doing and where they were going. Midna only grinned and ignored him.

Halls twisted, the next stretch hid around a corner, and soon Midna felt hopelessly lost. She was glad for Eldren, who seemed to know his way around - although _how,_ she had no idea. How could anyone navigate such dull halls that all looked the same?

Then the prince stopped at the end of a hallway that looked no differed from the others, and knocked on the set of double-doors there.

"Who is it?" a voice called from inside, feminine, yet strong and a little deep, too.

"Me," Eldren called through the door in return, giving Midna an excited grin - and she could only hope this princess was actually worth her time, not a pompous fool. But if she was anything like Eldren - he seemed fine so far - then she might not be too bad.

"Come in." Somber - not unkind, but somber. A little _too_ somber - and Midna found herself hoping once again that the Princess of Hyrule would not bore her.

Eldren twisted the knob, took a deep breath, and then pushed one of the doors open, beckoning the Twili princess inside. She thanked him for holding the door - she wasn't _completely_ devoid of manners, after all - and stepped through.

She found herself standing in the sitting room of a very beautiful set of chambers; a door to the right hung open, revealing a bedroom far more lavish than Midna's. There were a few other doors scattered across the walls, but they were closed, so there was really no way to know what they held.

The sitting room itself boasted multiple low, rectangular tables set at intervals across the floor, each one neatly surrounded by tall, plush red chairs. Tapestries of all the colors of the rainbow adorned the walls; gauzy pink curtains swept across windows, casting rosy early-morning sunlight over the floor.

And in one of the chairs near a wall sat a woman, regal and tall, light blonde hair sweeping smooth and straight over her shoulders and down her back like strands of sunlight. Small pink lips curled into the faint semblance of a smile as eyes, gray-blue like a stormy sky, flicked to meet the gazes of her visitors.

"Ah." Dainty, gloved fingers were curled round a teacup, just as porcelain as her skin. She set it down on the low table before her and stood to meet her visitors. "Eldren," she acknowledged her brother, then turned her gaze to Midna's.

And the two princesses stared, just stared at each other for perhaps a long while, both of them studying the other. Slate eyes roared, thundered, surged like fierce clouds in a stormy sky, flashed bright as lightning - but silent. The princess of Hyrule said not a word, but her eyes told stories - stories of a solemn princess who cared deeply for her kingdom, for its people, and would do anything to protect them and their peace.

Midna knew, because her eyes were the same, and she, too, would do anything for her people - but her eyes cackled like fire, tongues of flame lashing out like whips.

And though the two of them said not a single word to each other, they spoke a silent conversation, and almost felt as if they had known each other a lifetime.

Prince Eldren's voice broke them from their strange, almost trace-like state - "Er, well... so..."

Both princesses turned to look at him, a question in their eyes. Eldren gave them both a sheepish smile, and motioned to the Twili princess with a hesitant hand. "Princess Midna... may I present to you my sister, Princess Zelda of Hyrule."

Midna once again met those intense, piercing eyes, and her lilac lips split into a grin. "Nice to meet you," she said, holding out a hand for the other woman to shake.

Zelda's golden brow raised, almost imperceptibly, and she stared at Midna's outstretched hand as if unsure what to do with it - it wasn't custom for two princesses to shake hands upon meeting each other, after all. Then she accepted with her own gloved hand and shook it, giving a tiny smile. "A pleasure to meet you, Princess Midna."

"Please, just Midna," she insisted, still grinning. "I'm a bit tired of all this stuffy formality... to say the least." As soon as the words left her lips, she inwardly cringed, unsure of why she had said anything so bold. She didn't even know this princess, who was she to say such ridiculous things immediately after meeting her?

But her eyes showed a trustworthy woman, someone Midna felt she could be comfortable around. She couldn't explain it, but she already liked the other princess.

"If you insist. But if so, then you must call me just Zelda."

"I'd be glad to." Midna smirked.

Eldren cleared his throat. "What about me? Do I get to call you Midna?"

"Sure, whatever." She waved a hand dismissively. "But only if I can call you Eldren."

He chuckled. "Of course. Why not?"

"Good!" Midna invited herself to sit on a chair across from the one Zelda had been sitting in only moments ago. She crossed her legs and slouched forward, utterly disregarding all the etiquette she had ever been taught. She'd never cared much for it, anyway. "So, with all the stupid formalities gone, why don't we just sit and have a nice chat? Get to know each other a bit."

Eldren and his sister shared a glance, and he seemed to give a tiny shrug before sitting in the chair next to the Twili woman. Zelda returned to her seat and lifted her teacup again, taking a tiny sip from it before speaking. "Would any of you care for some tea?"

"I'd love some," the prince replied, and Midna only shook her head, having never cared much for tea. Instead, she found herself hungrily eyeing the food laid out on the table - scrambled eggs, roasted pork, teacakes and still-steaming rolls. Without asking, she selected a clean plate off to the side and began piling it with food. Eldren did the same.

Zelda glanced toward the door, and Midna followed her gaze, only to see Salaas standing beside it, tall and silent, hands laced behind his back. She had completely forgotten about him - and was grateful for that fact. It was kind of him to stay silent and allow her to get to know the royal family without constantly hanging over her shoulder.

But she didn't miss the obvious look of distaste in his yellow eyes, clearly displeased with her brash behavior.

 _Whatever._

Midna flicked her gaze to the right, and saw a maid standing a few feet away from Salaas. The poor young woman kept casting nervous glances in the Twili man's direction, swallowing whenever their gazes would meet for a split second and his small pupils would bore into her soft brown eyes. Midna noticed when she inched away from him ever-so-slightly, and stared down at her feet, clearly too afraid to look at the strange man again.

"Would you fetch some tea?" Zelda kindly asked the maid, who heaved a sigh of relief, as if glad to have an excuse to escape the presence of Salaas.

"Yes, of course, your highness!" She smiled. "What kind?"

Zelda cast Eldren a glance, who turned to face the maid himself and told her, "Raspberry tea, if you please." The maid nodded, and didn't hesitate to leave, nearly throwing the door open on her way out. "Er, thank..." But she was already gone. "...you...?" With a furrowed brow, Eldren turned to the two princesses. "Why was she in such a hurry?"

Midna smirked. "Salaas _is_ pretty terrifying. I don't blame the poor girl," she responded as she took a large bite of food.

She didn't look at him, but heard her bodyguard huff in the background.

Eldren chuckled, but Zelda didn't have much of a response at all, opting instead to take another sip of her tea. Looking between them now, Midna finally noticed just how different they looked - Eldren's eyes shone gold like the sun, his hair the same color, skin nearly as dark as cocoa. Zelda looked almost like a doll, she thought - a fierce doll, with lightning for eyes, but a doll nonetheless.

She was almost tempted to ask why, but even though she could be insolent at times, she wasn't quite _that_ insolent.

"So, Zelda, if you don't mind my asking," Midna began, desperate to chase away the strong urge to ask if either one of them was adopted, "Eldren tells me you left to solve a bit of an issue in another village. What was that all about?"

Zelda sighed, a quiet, delicate sigh, and set down her teacup. Even with the clear absence of formality, she never once allowed her shoulders to droop or her back to slouch in the slightest. "Yes. There was a bit of a problem with the Gerudo, but it was solved in a relatively painless and swift manner."

"Gerudo?" Midna stuffed more food in her face.

"Do you not know of them?" Zelda asked.

"I only know a little," the Twili admitted, somewhat sheepishly. She had tried to research Hyrulians and their culture in an attempt to prepare herself for her marriage to Prince Eldren. She hadn't studied many other cultures. "They're a tribe of warrior women, aren't they?" She grinned, embarrassed. "That's all I know."

The other woman nodded. "The Gerudo people are a strange phenomenon. Their race is composed solely of women, and only one man is born every hundred years. The average lifespan for a Gerudo is two hundred years, so they can afford to wait for the man to be born. It happens like clockwork, they say - every century, on the same day, they hold a ritual where they pray to the Goddess of Sands that the next child they bear will be a boy. And their prayers are answered. Once a new son is born, he will become king of the Gerudo."

"Interesting." Midna absently nodded her head, mostly to herself, wondering how in the world she had missed so much information about such a strange race. Then again, when she had read the book _Races of Hyrule,_ she had barely even skimmed the sections entitled _Gorons, Zoras,_ and _Gerudo,_ and had really only focused on the sections _Hylians_ and _humans._

"They once dwelled in a desert far away, a terrible, inhospitable place," Zelda continued. "They felt as if they were forced to steal from us Hyrulians due to the difficult conditions in which they lived. As such, they have always been known as ruthless thieves, and Hyrulians hated them. Only recently were they allowed to come live in Hyrule."

"Why's that?" Midna asked.

"My father allowed them to," was her vague response. She took another sip of tea before continuing. "Their culture has revolved around thieving for so long; it is difficult to destroy one of their basest instincts. In the village I visited, their plundering had grown so terrible that entire farmlands were destitute, their cattle killed for meat, crops and horses taken. I decided to deal with it myself."

"Why not send someone else to do it for you?" Midna leaned back in her seat, folding her arms across her chest in thought. Not that she _wouldn't_ have done the same thing Zelda did; she hated letting other people solve her problems for her. But she couldn't help being curious.

The other princess smiled, just a little. "You spoke of 'stuffy formality' earlier, did you not?"

"I did." Midna cocked a brow, wondering where she was going with this.

Zelda calmly finished off her tea and set down her empty cup on the table, slightly leaning back in her sumptuous red chair, allowing the fluffy fabric to nearly envelop her. "I must admit, sometimes I feel this castle is full of those stuffy formalities, and it is nice to escape them sometimes."

Yes. Yes, Midna liked this princess. She grinned. "Makes sense to me."

It seemed as if Zelda wished to say something else - her lips parted, her eyes lowered in thought. But a knock at the door interrupted anything she had been about to say. "Who is it?" the Hylian princess called.

"Um, me, your highness, I've brought the raspberry tea."

"Come in, please."

The maid entered, cautiously and hesitantly, poking her head in the room but nothing else. Upon seeing Salaas, still standing in the same place, she swallowed heavily and scurried inside as quickly as possible. "Your tea," she hurried to say, plopping the teacup onto a small plate on the table with a _ding_ of porcelain. Then she bowed, sloppily, and rushed back out without even bothering to ask if they needed anything else.

Midna rolled her eyes. "Curses, Salaas! I wanted to ask for a pastry of some sort, but you just _had_ to scare her off..."

"That wasn't my intention, your highness," he responded, voice low and irritated.

"Whatever, just find somewhere more private to pull your scary faces, where people won't see you."

"My duty is to guard you."

"I'll be fine."

"With all due respect, highness -"

"Yeah, Salaas, I get it, you won't ever leave me alone. Just do whatever." She waved a dismissive hand at him, resisting the urge to curl her lip in annoyance. Really, he could be so unbearable sometimes. Turning away from him, she noticed Eldren taking a sip of his raspberry tea and giving a sigh of contentment. "Sorry about that," Midna murmured, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

Eldren was the first to speak. "It's fine." He gave her a smile, to which she responded by leaning to the side in her chair, resting an elbow on the armrest and her chin in her palm. She huffed quietly, in an attempt to release her irritation.

An awkward silence followed, in which nobody quite knew what to say. Zelda stared down at the table, hands laced gracefully in her lap. Eldren sipped constantly at his tea until it was finished, and Midna only shut her eyes, still resting her chin in her hand.

Then, finally, Zelda spoke. "I apologize that our father cannot be here to meet you."

"Eldren said he's sick." Midna straightened so that she wouldn't appear disrespectful, and gave the other woman an apologetic look. "Is he all right?" Not that she cared too much about a man she hadn't met, but she definitely had to feel sorry for the prince and the princess. And if the king died, tensions would rise, and that was certainly something Midna didn't want.

"He should be fine. He is a strong man, after all," Zelda responded with an almost imperceptible nod.

"Good." The Twili princess tried to smile at her.

"I apologize that I must cut this visit so short, but I feel I need to see my father. I do worry for him." Her pink lips twisted into the slightest frown, and she refused to meet anyone's gaze.

"Perfectly understandable," Midna reassured her.

"Perhaps we could meet again soon," Zelda suggested, standing from her chair. Eldren and Midna followed suit. "I quite enjoyed meeting you, Midna."

"Same here." The Twili woman grinned. "I'd love to visit you again sometime."

Zelda smiled kindly, and slightly bowed her head. Midna returned the gesture. "Then, I'll see you again."

"Yeah, see you." Both princesses - with Eldren and Salaas following behind - made their way to the door, and paused before it.

"Farewell."

Midna didn't say anything in response to Zelda, only waved her hand, and exited the room with the prince and her bodyguard in tow. Eldren caught up with her, a grimace on his lips, and spoke as they walked. "I'm sorry for... well, how abrupt she was. She's a bit stressed out."

"Abrupt? You want abrupt, look at me." Midna cocked a brow. "It's fine, Eldren, don't worry about it. Being concerned for a sick father is completely understandable."

He smiled at her, wan, but a smile nonetheless. "I already like this side of you much more than the silly facade you were putting on earlier."

She laughed. "Yeah, well, I didn't like it much either. It was stifling. I'm just glad you don't immediately hate me for... well, being me."

"Of course not." His smile brightened, just a little. "I look forward to getting to know you better, Midna."

"Stop attempting to flirt, you're pretty awful at it."

And to her surprise, he actually threw his head back and laughed - a genuine laugh. "You're terribly blunt, aren't you?"

"You just noticed?" She smirked.

"Actually, I -"

But the sound of heavy, frantic footsteps interrupted whatever he had been about to say. A short, thin man stumbled round the corner before them, panting heavily, hair a mess on his head, eyes filled with fear.

"Your highness!" the man somehow managed to say through his constant gasps for air, and he bowed low at the waist. "There's a -" But he paused when he saw Midna for the first time, tall Twili woman in all her intimidating glory, and pressed his lips together in distress. "...There's something you need to see right away."

Eldren furrowed his brow and exchanged a glance with Midna. "Er, my apologies, but this seems rather urgent."

"Don't worry about it." Midna sighed.

"I'll see you soon?"

She smiled, and waved a hand at him. "Yeah, I'll see you. Just get going already!"

He gave a single nod, and then hurried to follow the little man, who had already rushed off down the halls again.

For a moment, only silence hung in the air, and it threatened to stifle her. The Twili princess curled her lip in distaste, and wondered what in the world she could do to pass the time in this awful, dull castle.

But her thoughts were interrupted by the familiar, unpleasant voice of Salaas. "With all due respect, highness... You're being a bit too rude to the prince. You don't want to make him hate you, do you?"

She whirled to face him, only to see him wearing an infuriating expression - lips pressed together, both brows raised just a little, eyes narrowed in annoyance. And she narrowed her eyes right back at him. _"He's_ the one that asked me to take off my mask and show him what I'm really like. And are you deaf? Didn't you hear him? He said he likes me better this way!"

"Is he lying, though?"

Midna blinked in surprise. "No, of course not." But she couldn't help feeling just a little uneasy at his words; perhaps he was right. Perhaps everything was a lie. But no, it couldn't be. She shook her head. "You're unbearable. Go find somewhere else to be a pain in the neck."

Salaas's glare burned, intense like the sun, but she met it with unflinching fire. "I'd love to, your _highness,"_ he spat, "but the king himself gave me this job, and I won't allow you to be hurt. And Goddesses know if you wander off on your own, that's exactly what'll happen! You'll probably somehow manage to amputate your own arm by mistake!"

Midna snarled, hands clenching into fists within the folds of her dress. "You'd love that, wouldn't you? But I won't give you that pleasure. No, I'll wander off my own, and I'll return _perfectly_ fine! Just you wait!" And without another word, she spun on her heel, striding down the marble corridors of the castle with bare feet thumping angrily on the carpet.

"What -" And there might have been a note of regret in his voice. "Your highness, where are you going? Wait, I'm sorry!"

But she wouldn't listen. Heavy footsteps thudded behind her, chasing her. Her heart quickened; hammered against her ribcage. Gritting her teeth, Midna burst into a run, skidding around countless corners until she had no idea where she had come from or where she was going. But when she finally stopped a long time later, chest heaving with rapid breaths and mouth gaping, gasping for air, Salaas was nowhere in sight.

 _Unbearable,_ she thought with a quiet hiss to herself, and continued down the hall with head held high.

 _I'll do what I want without him, and I'll be happier for it._ She nodded once, as if to punctuate her own thoughts. But what? What could she possibly do within these marble prison bars? Nothing. A sense of boredom and frustration swept over her, threatening to overwhelm her, but she pushed it away with a huff.

Then - then a fleeting image of horses flitted through her memory, of wind and of freedom and of laughter.

Midna grinned.

 _Link._

* * *

"And who in the name of the Sacred Realm are you?" Midna stared at the man before her with one brow cocked, arms folded loosely across her chest, leaning most her weight on her right leg. She had come to Link's stall, only to find a different person there, light brown hair falling shaggy round his face and to his shoulders.

The aforementioned man gave her a wide grin, the skin around his gray eyes crinkling at the action, and he waggled his dark brows at her. "I might ask the same thing of you, darlin'."

"Wh-what... Excuse me?" Was he attempting to _flirt_ with her? Unheard of! She stared at him, eyes wide in shock. Not that she was unaccustomed to men flirting with her, but all of those men had been Twili. No Hylians. Hylians feared Twili; it was a fact of life. Shouldn't he be trembling in fear? Not _flirting_ with her, of all things!

"You tell me your name, sweetheart, and I'll tell you mine."

"I'm not going to tell you my name if you keep calling me sweetheart, you brainless oaf," she responded without missing a beat.

The man chuckled. "Right, fine then. I'm Laik." He leaned forward across the stall's counter, that idiotic grin still plastered on his face. "And your name...?"

She was tempted to lie; to give him a fake name, something ridiculous. Like Bobina. She couldn't help smiling to herself at the thought, but for whatever stupid reason, the name came tumbling off her lips against her own will. "Midna."

"Thought so."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Link talked about you." Still smiling widely, he straightened himself. "I'm his brother."

Midna stared, silent, unsure of what to make of his words. Link had talked about her, for one thing - which was quite strange; they'd only met twice, it wasn't like she was worthy of talking about. And second, this pathetic fool was his brother? Now that he mentioned it, she could see vague similarities between them - the shape of his eyes, his narrow chin, the defined facial shape. Though his nose jutted out a little more than Link's, and his jaw seemed harsher, more prominent.

She cocked a brow. "What did he say about me?"

"That he'd never met a Twili before, and he'd never expected one to be so beautiful." Laik smirked, raising both brows at her. "I have to agree with him."

 _Beautiful._ Midna tried not to flush, and felt pathetic for feeling so flattered over such a small thing. To disguise her embarrassment, she scoffed. "I never expected his brother to be such an idiot."

"You know, I can respect a woman with sass." He laughed. "How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?"

"I do mind, thank you very much," she snapped, narrowing her eyes at him.

Laik pretended to be offended, even though she could tell he was obviously amused by the situation. He gave a small shrug, eyes downcast, and heaved a deep sigh. "Well, all right, if you feel that way. I just wanted to let you know if you and Link were the same age or not."

"What? Why would I care about that?" Midna muttered, shifting her weight to her other foot.

"I just thought you and Link had something going, is all."

She rolled her eyes. "He's certainly more charming than you..."

"Ouch." Laik sighed again, and shook his head. "You're certainly a stubborn one. He was just curious to know, is all."

"Was he really? Or are _you_ the curious one?"

"Maybe both." He grinned again, and Midna responded by curling her lip in annoyance. "You sure you don't want to tell me?"

"If it'll shut you up, I'm twenty. There, happy? Now can you please just sell me something and let me go?"

Laik tsked. "Twenty, huh? Too bad... Link's only eighteen." He waggled his brows again, and she resisted the excruciatingly strong urge to punch him. Hard. "But me, on the other hand, I'm the same age as you. You'd be better off with me. So, uh... you interested?"

Midna curled her hands into fists, and clutched at the fabric of her dress in a desperate attempt to stop herself from giving into that terrible urge. "I'd marry a slug before I even considered your offer."

"Playing hard-to-get, I see. That's all right. I'm patient." Laik smirked at her.

Sweet Farore above, how she so desperately wanted to wipe that smirk off his pathetic face.

Thankfully, before she made any rash decisions, Link himself emerged from the bustling crowd, and approached the stall. He stopped when he noticed Midna, and glanced between her and his brother with eyes slightly narrowed. "Laik... what are you doing?"

"Harassing me!"

"Serving a customer."

Midna and Laik spoke at exactly the same time, and she shot him a glare that he pretended not to notice.

Link rubbed his temples and heaved a sigh. "Laik. Nobody likes you to flirt with them, you're just a pain. Stop chasing away customers."

Midna folded her arms across her chest and shot the brown-haired man another glare, but couldn't manage to hide a small, smug smirk at Link's comment.

Laik stared at his brother with eyes wide in feigned shock. "What? But Link, I thought we were the best of friends! I didn't know you thought of me as... as nothing more than a _pain!"_ He tsked and shook his head, looking away with a grimace on his face. "Now I know... and it hurts..."

Link's shoulders drooped, and he shut his eyes, rubbing his forehead. "Laik... Glorious Golden Goddesses, just... Just stay there. Watch the stall. And _don't_ flirt with any more random women."

Immediately Laik was back to his ridiculous self, grinning widely at his brother. "I make no promises!"

"Let's just go," Link muttered to Midna, and turned away from the stall. He lifted a hand toward her, as if reaching to take her arm - but then decided against the action, and let it drop, limp, to his side once more.

Then the both of them were pushing through the crowd, before she even quite knew what was happening, people shoving past them without a word of apology. Of course Midna cursed at each and every one of them.

Eventually Link came to a stop in the same field they had met in just the other day, and turned to Midna with a deep sigh. "I'm sorry about him. He's... ridiculous." But a smile lingered at the corners of his lips, and she couldn't help returning the expression. "But, what brings you here?"

Her smile turned sheepish, and she reached up to toy mindlessly with her ponytail, and pretended to be adjusting it. "To be honest... I really enjoyed riding a horse. And, well, I wondered if we could... If you'd let me do it again?"

Link beamed, and she swore his cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink. He stared down at his boots in an obvious attempt to hide his blush, and his goofy grin. Nervously a hand reached up to fidget with his earring, much like she fidgeted with her hair - and she smirked, just a little, at the sight of it. "Sure. Snow's here again and she seemed to like you. I'm sure she'd be delighted to let you ride her again."

Midna grinned like an excited child as he led her around to the horses, both tethered to a fencepost as they had been just yesterday. Snow gave a quiet nicker of greeting upon seeing Midna, and Epona danced excitedly on her hooves, nuzzling her master as soon as he came within her reach. Link laughed, and petted her nose, then moved to untie both horses.

For a moment, the Twili and the Hylian's gazes met, and they exchanged excited grins. Then Link swung up into the saddle, and Midna followed suit.

They kicked their heels into their horses' sides, and then the wind danced, flew around her, lifted her hair and let it flutter behind her like a pennant, and tore a joyous laugh from her throat.

* * *

 **A/N: A** **quick note. This will either disappoint or thrill a lot of you (or you just won't care, haha). But I can guarantee you right now, there will be _no_ love triangles in this story. If this news disappoints you, I'm sorry, but I dislike love triangles and refuse to write them.**

 **Hope this chapter is better than the last two; I wasn't exhausted while writing it, and I tried to use better descriptions. Tell me what you think. And thanks again for reading, and for all your awesome reviews! You guys are just so kind. :D**

 **And, I know I'm rambling, but I'm sorry the story is slow at the moment. I just kind of want to set the stage before anything crazy happens. I've been doing a lot of foreshadowing (I think), and I hope you guys enjoy what I have planned for the future of this story. I also plan to write from the POV of different characters too, I'm just sticking with Midna right now because... yeah, like I said, setting the stage. Sorry again, and sorry too for the ramble, just thought I'd let you guys know!**


	4. The King

The sun shone bright, smiling down upon the world, all warmth and quiet and peace.

And it was early. Sweet glorious Farore, it was _early._

But Midna tried not to care. She had specifically woken up earlier than Salaas and Ludin so that she could escape that pathetic prison called a _castle._ Whoever had come up with such a pompous name for naught more than a marble dungeon?

No, she couldn't stay there for a moment longer. She needed freedom; needed to feel the wind in her hair and see colorful fields stretching endless before her. And the only person whose laugh was freedom itself - Link. Of course Link. A part of her felt pathetic for wanting so desperately to spend so much time with him when she hadn't even known him for a week yet, but the other part of her just didn't care.

So she stood, waiting, ever waiting, and an eternity passed as she only stared out at the vast meadows before her.

Finally - the rhythmic beat of horses' hooves on dirt. Heart hammering far more than it should have, Midna whirled to face the source of the noise, lips curving into a smile.

"Finally! Took you long enough," Midna huffed as two riders rounded the corner of a building and came into view. She directed her gaze to Link, sitting astride his powerful mare, and pretended Laik didn't exist.

Link stared at her in surprise, and pulled Epona to a stop. "Midna? What are you doing _here,_ of all places?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Laik grinned, and nudged Snow forward. The placid mare plodded toward the Twili, giving a quiet nicker of greeting. "I knew you'd come to your senses! You were waiting here for me, weren't you? I hope I didn't make you wait too long."

"Hi, Snow," Midna cooed, completely ignoring her rider, and patted her nose. Then she brushed past the horse, and came to stand in front of Link. "Things got a little... stuffy, you could say, back at the -"

 _Castle._

 _Well, crap._ Midna bit her lip. Link wasn't aware of her status as a princess, and she was in no hurry to enlighten him. What if he knew? He'd start to look at her differently, no doubt. Wouldn't talk to her the same. Wouldn't let her ride free through the fields alongside him.

She _needed_ that freedom; lived it, breathed it. And so -

"...inn," she lied. "The inn I'm staying at. I came here with a friend, and she's being completely insufferable. I figured I'd wake up early and escape before she could catch me and lecture me." She rolled her eyes.

Link offered her a faint smile, and reached to pat Epona's neck as she shifted her weight beneath him. "Here to ride Snow again, then?"

"Hey!" Laik protested. "I'm right here. Ask my permission before you steal my horse!"

Both Link and Midna ignored him. "If you don't mind," the Twili woman responded with a wide grin. "I figure you could let your useless brother watch over the stall." She jerked a thumb in the brown-haired Hylian's direction.

"Useless?" It seemed as though Laik was about to deny that statement, but his brother interrupted him.

"That isn't too bad of an idea. He always leaves me alone to tend the stall while he runs off to do Goddesses-know-what, so why not pay him back?"

"What?" Laik spluttered. "You're both being ridiculous!"

Finally, for the first time that morning, Link acknowledged his brother. "You should probably get to the stall. We don't want to keep any customers waiting."

"You can't make me get off my horse!"

"You know how you're always saying you'd do anything for a pretty woman?" Link told the other man with both brows slightly raised.

Laik heaved a deep sigh, and his shoulders drooped. "Yeah...?" Clearly he knew where this was going.

Link motioned to Snow. "Then why not let Midna ride her?"

"Sure, yeah. Yeah," Laik grunted, climbing off his mare's saddle with his nose slightly wrinkled in annoyance. "Not like I care anyway." And without another word, he shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking away.

"Laik!"

"What?" He glanced over his shoulder.

Link smiled. "I'll know if you aren't tending the stall."

"Yeah right... Just enjoy yourself." Laik shook his head and once again started walking, muttering to himself as he went, "Since when did _he_ become a ladies' man?"

Midna grinned and didn't hesitate to swing up into Snow's saddle. The small horse turned an eye to look at her, and Midna stroked her fingers through her mane. "Sorry for coming out to meet you so often. It's just - I've never quite met someone like you."

"What does that mean?" Link blinked at her in confusion.

Midna smiled. "You're just so free-spirited; you seem like the type of person that wouldn't let anything faze him."

"I'll take that as a compliment." His smile flowed easy, like the breeze itself, and she couldn't help loving it.

Both of them turned their horses around, and began to walk them at an easy pace, unhurried and calm. "To be honest - you seem so familiar. I thought that from the first moment I saw you, but I'm sure I've never met you before."

He nodded, thoughtfully, and fidgeted absently with Epona's reins. "Same. But I've never seen a Twili before in my entire life, not until I met you. Both my brother and I read about them, and heard about them, and we were always curious about them. Everyone else feared them, but we just wanted to meet one and see what they were like." He chuckled to himself, eyes still downcast, staring unseeing at his mare's white mane. "Our mother was angry at us for it. She always told us Twili were dangerous and terrible people, but we wouldn't listen to her. And you just proved her wrong." Finally his eyes lifted to meet hers. She smiled at him in reply.

"Good." She nodded her head once. "Hyrulians are much too afraid of the Twili. Somehow, they need to see that not all of us are bad. Even though our ancestors were terrible, that doesn't mean _we_ are. People can change."

"I know." Link sighed and gazed off into the distance, breeze toying with his hair, plucking at it with gentle, teasing fingers. Midna watched him, unconscious of the tiny smile hinting at the edges of her lips.

"So -" She broke the silence - "What else do you do for fun? Besides tending the stall and riding horses all day."

Link turned to her again and grinned, eyes bright. "The Week of Faron is pretty busy. I'm glad it's almost over - it takes up so much of my time. Because of it, I'm getting a little rusty in my swordplay."

"Swordplay?" She blinked at him in surprise.

"Yeah." His smile turned fond, and distant. She could see him losing himself in memories. "My father used to be a soldier, but he decided he preferred peace, so he settled down with my mother. He still practices his swordplay every now and then, and he taught it to both me and my brother."

Midna grinned. "Sounds exciting. I've always wanted to learn how to wield a sword myself, but my family wanted me to focus on magic."

Link met her eyes, his own blue ones curious. "You've mentioned magic before. That's... amazing. I've never seen real magic. Only the fake kind, where someone pretends to pull a rupee out of your ear. What's it like?"

"It's -" Midna hesitated, staring down at Snow's mane and clutching the reins just a little tighter. "I could show you sometime, I guess."

"Really?" He stared at her, eyes wide and excited, and she couldn't help laughing at the sight of it.

"Of course! Just, not right now, I'm afraid it might scare the horses. Kargaroks are accustomed to our magic, but I'm not so sure about horses. They seem much... jumpier." She gave a light shrug.

He sighed. "They are, sometimes. Especially Snow, since she's so peaceful, she's more easily scared." His head turned, facing the north, studying the far mountains and the gnarled oak forest at their feet. "We could go there," and he pointed to the edge of the forest.

Midna eyed the dark forest, trees knit close together, and found it beautiful, though eerie. She cocked a brow at the man beside her. "You're just trying to lure me in there so you can kidnap me," she teased.

"Curses," Link sighed without missing a beat. "I thought you'd never figure it out."

Midna laughed joyously, and he laughed too. Perhaps she might have been suspicious of anyone else who wanted to lure her, alone, into a dark forest - but this was _Link._ And she trusted him, though she couldn't explain why. She couldn't even fathom it herself.

"Who knows?" The Twili woman smirked, mischievous and mirthful. "I might just turn the tables and kidnap _you_ instead."

Link heaved a resigned sigh, and his shoulders slumped. "I don't see how I could prevent that."

"You couldn't, that's the point."

He shook his head, smiling. "I'll just have to escape before you can catch me." And then, without warning - _"Hyah!"_ and suddenly Epona was galloping across the fields, churning earth beneath her sharp hooves, legs only a blur. Midna laughed, loud, without a care in the world, and kicked Snow's sides. The white mare didn't need any more urging than that - she surged into a desperate gallop, mane fluttering, tail flapping in the whistling wind.

Nothing else mattered in that moment, only the wind, and the sky, and the endless green before them. She could hear her own laugh in the air, and his too, and for a fleeting moment wished she never had to return to Castle Hyrule.

But returning was inevitable. She could see the scene play out in her mind, of her returning to the white marble prison, and the prince she was fated to marry.

And the thought of it ripped her laughter away, sagged her shoulders beneath a terrible weight. Suddenly the bitter wind stung her eyes and her skin instead of flowing smooth around her like silk. Her head dropped, teeth gritted against the wind, eyes narrowed, and she tried to chase the thoughts away. Why ruin a joyous moment with such thoughts?

But she couldn't help it. Couldn't help realizing that, yes, someday she would marry Prince Eldren. And someday she would no longer flee to the fields to meet Link, and to gallop beside him. Someday that prison would become her home, her _home -_

"Midna?"

She hadn't even realized Snow had slowed to a leisurely trot, and Link had pulled Epona beside her. He noticed the way the Twili stared down with eyes dull, hands clutched round the reins into fists so tight that her blue skin turned white at the knuckles.

She flicked her gaze up to meet his, and tried to smile. "Sorry, got distracted."

"Is that really all?" His lips pursed, just a little, in worry, and she hated the sight of it.

A smirk curved her lips upward. "I can't believe you fell for it," she laughed, and only laughed harder when he blinked at her in utter confusion. The slightest tug of the reins urged Snow to walk right up beside the other mare, and Midna peered up at the Hylian, grinning widely.

"What -" he began, but could speak no further. Midna grasped Epona's reins and pulled them away from his unsuspecting grip.

"There, I caught you," she giggled.

He only stared, bewildered.

"Well? Don't you have anything to say before I drag you off and force you to ride a Kargarok?"

He blinked. "Um... Not really," he finally managed to say, nervously running a hand through his windblown hair. "I _would_ tell you to return Snow to her rightful owner, but she seems to like you more."

Midna laughed, a hearty laugh, and returned Epona's reins to her rider. "You should just let me keep her."

Link smiled. "Laik would be furious."

"Who cares?" She shrugged. "He's a pain, anyway."

"He is," Link agreed with a frown, shifting his weight in the saddle in an attempt to find a more comfortable position. "But we used to be close. We did everything together. I'm not quite sure why he just decided to stop caring one day."

Midna searched his face, smile vanishing. "I'm sorry."

He gave a sheepish grin, and ran a hand through his hair again. "No, I'm sorry. That was a bit off-topic. I was just worrying about him, I guess."

"He's your older brother, isn't he?" When he nodded, she huffed and continued, "He should act like it. Take more responsibility. In fact, he's probably not even watching your stall right now."

"Probably not." Link chuckled. For a moment he looked to the south, the direction of Castle Town, and his eyes grew distant. Then he sighed and turned to the woman beside him again. "Anyway - anything you want to do in particular? This is your first time coming to Hyrule, isn't it?"

She only nodded in response.

"We could go back, and look around a bit. There's plenty to see."

She shook her head, smiling. "I like the idea of going to the forest. It looks like a quiet place. And to be honest, I need quiet right now. I'm sick of bustling crowds."

"I'm glad you say that, because, I am too," he admitted, fidgeting mindlessly with Epona's reins. The large mare danced excitedly on her hooves, anxious to finish the race to the forest. For a moment it appeared as if she and Snow exchanged a glance, both of them challenging the other. Link grinned and patted his horse's neck. "All right, we'll get going again." He cast a quick glance in Midna's direction. "Ready?"

"You don't even need to ask." She tightly clutched Snow's reins, and smirked. "I'll win, by the way."

"You're hilarious."

"And you're cocky." She lifted a brow at him, and he returned the expression. "I'll knock you off your high horse. Quite literally."

"If you can even catch up to me first." And he kicked Epona's sides. She burst into a gallop once more, whinnying in joy. Snow surged after her, tossing her head, and once again Midna forgot everything - forgot her status as princess, forgot her destiny to marry a prince and mend the rift between her people and the Hyrulians.

Link could do that to her, could make her forget, could make her stop worrying. And though she hadn't known him that long, she found herself wishing that she could stay out here in these fields forever, getting to know him better, every little thing about him, and she could tell him all about herself, and they could share memories and laughter...

 _What ridiculous thoughts._

Snow flew free beneath her, and the forest loomed ever closer. Of course Link beat her there, though Midna was close behind when he passed the border of trees and their shadows swallowed him whole. Immediately she pulled Snow to a stop. The mare obeyed, tossing her head and neighing, hooves skidding on the forest floor and sending fallen leaves flying.

"We're here." Link slid easily off Epona's saddle and landed, light as a cat, boots crunching dry leaves.

"I never would have guessed. Thanks for pointing that out."

Link stared at her, both brows raised, and she only grinned cheekily at him. Shaking his head, he turned away from her, and busied himself tying the horses' reins to a low-hanging and sturdy-looking tree branch. "Anyway," he said as he worked, fingers flying fast with years of practice behind them. He finished almost before she had time to blink. "About this magic of yours. I'm really curious."

"Of course you are." Midna smiled and turned around, heading deeper into the forest, and over her shoulder, motioned for Link to follow her. He did, and she spoke as they walked - "We can create light, and warmth. Apparently this was useful for our ancestors, as the Twilight was quite dark and cold."

"You've never been to the Twilight, I'm guessing."

Midna sighed. "How could I? It was fifty years ago that the Goddesses finally allowed us to return to the world of light. I was only born twenty years ago. And nobody can visit it - apparently the Goddesses opened a temporary portal and allowed for the Twili to enter Hyrule, but after that? They closed the portal, and it can't ever be opened again. But my grandfather remembers the Twilight." At the thought of him, a wistful smile fell across her lips. "He tells me about it - about how beautiful it was, in such a strange and unique way. He describes floating islands, eternally pink skies, and shifting black clouds that told the time depending on their position and shape. He also told me that there were odd little black squares constantly floating up into the sky, coming from nowhere and going nowhere. They just sort of... existed, and nobody really knew their purpose. And if you tried to touch one they'd just go through your hand."

Link listened, enraptured with her description, eyes wide and curious. "It sounds..." He paused, trying to find the right word, and Midna laughed quietly when he couldn't seem to. "Fascinating," he finally managed.

"I know. I'd love to see it someday, but - but I don't think I ever will." Her smile vanished, and she lowered her eyes as she walked, leaves crackling and twigs snapping beneath bare feet. "Grandfather says that a lot of the Twili were excited to live in the realm of light, but he says some of them were actually enraged by the idea of it, and refused to leave their homes. Or some of them were just indifferent about it and decided to stay back because they didn't care."

"They're missing out." Link smiled. "Hyrule can be a wonderful place, when it wants to be anyway."

"What does that mean?" She cast him a glance over her shoulder, and nearly tripped over a protruding root in the process. Immediately she righted herself before she could fall flat on her face, and rolled her eyes at the young Hylian man behind her when he chuckled.

"Anyway," he continued once he stopped grinning at her, "I don't know if you've heard about the Gerudo attacks."

"I have, actually." Midna kept her gaze forward this time. She pressed her lips together in thought, staring blankly into the darkness of the trees before her.

"Yeah, just that. Ever since the king took up the throne and allowed them to come into Hyrule, the Gerudo have been raiding farms and villages. Supposedly they're peaceful thieves, because they only take what they need and don't kill anyone. But whether they mean to or not, they're destroying lives anyway, because they're taking everyone's food and their livelihoods." He grimaced, and stared at his leather riding boots as he walked. "Of course, this all started happening twenty years ago, before I was born, so I don't really remember it any other way. But I've heard things were much better before the the king came along."

"Why doesn't he kick them out, if they're causing so much trouble?"

"To kick them out means war. They're already denizens of Hyrule now. They'd rebel."

She had known the answer before the question even left her lips, so Midna didn't know why she'd asked it anyway. With a sigh, she lowered her head and kicked at a stick in her path. "Let's - let's talk about something less grim. Brighten the mood a bit." She whirled to face him, hair flying about her face and fluttering to rest around her shoulders once more. With a grin, she clasped her hands together over her chest, intertwining her fingers - then she pulled her hands apart again, slow and steady, and a ball of beautiful blue light appeared between her palms. "Literally."

Link stared in awe, mouth agape, and she couldn't help giggling at the sight. Holding out her hand to him, the light resting within her palm, she nodded her head once. "Take it."

"Wh-what? I can?" he spluttered, amazed, unable to tear his eyes away from the glowing orb.

Midna shrugged. "I don't know, maybe. I know Twili can accept light from others, but I don't know about Hylians. I've never tried it. So we'll find out."

He finally looked up to meet her eyes, frowning. "Obviously I can't. I don't have an ounce of magic, Midna, I'm not a Twili."

"Just take it, okay?" She shoved it into his hands, and he gasped at her sudden gesture. And then his eyes widened even further when it didn't die out, but remained glowing bright, and he gave a breathless laugh.

"That's - that's..."

"Amazing?"

"Yeah!" He grinned at the light, and didn't dare move his hands even an inch for fear it would extinguish the orb. "It's warm."

Midna nodded. "For some reason, I hear fire didn't work well in the Twilight. It was just... different, I suppose, not warm or bright enough. So my ancestors learned to use these." She motioned to the light - and as soon as she did, it flickered, and died.

The Hylian blinked in confusion, and stood speechless for a long while. Then he grimaced, and let his hands drop, disappointed, to his sides. "What did you do?"

"Um... I don't know." Midna smiled sheepishly.

"Good job."

"Thanks! I do my best."

Link heaved a deep sigh and shook his head, brushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"What about this one?" Lifting her hands before her, palms facing outward, Midna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "This one is kind of taxing if I keep it up for too long," she murmured, slowly spreading her hands farther and farther apart. Then her eyes flashed open, and she brought her hands together and steepled her fingers all in one quick movement. A ripple of blue light appeared before her, and she once more outstretched her palms, turning the ripple into a solid oval shape that stretched from her head down to her toes.

"Wow. What is that?" Link asked in wonder, slowly reaching out a hand to touch it - but he hesitated, his hand hovering in the air before it. "Is it dangerous?"

"No." Midna smiled. "It's a shield. It won't hurt you when you touch it, but you can't break through it either. Well... unless I lose my energy, then it can be shattered." Already a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead, and dripped off the edge of her nose. "I haven't practiced this in a while," and her voice was strained, just a little. "I can barely even hold it, this is pathetic!"

After a short pause, Link reached toward the shield once more, and rested his palm on its surface. "It feels like glass."

Gritting her teeth, Midna shook her head to herself, and finally allowed her arms to drop to her sides, the shield fading away before her. "I couldn't hold it any longer," she muttered, mostly to herself. "Sweet Goddesses, I need to practice that more. That was awful!"

"I thought it was impressive."

Midna heaved a tired sigh, and wiped her sweaty palms on her dress. "Well, thanks. How about one more? And then that'll be the limit of my magical repertoire."

He tried to hide how excited he was by casually shifting his weight to his other foot and giving a light shrug. "Why not? Unless, of course, you're too tired. You look absolutely _exhausted."_

"Shut up."

He grinned.

"Anyway -" She raked her fingers through her hair, messy and windblown - "do you have anything I could use to tie my hair up?"

"I... don't think so?" Link stared at her, obviously confused. "Why?"

"Well, actually," Here Midna paused to grin sheepishly, "this next bit of magic is a bit... strange, and involves my hair. I need to tie it up in a ponytail in order to focus my magic. It's difficult to explain..."

Furrowing his brow, Link fished through his trouser pockets. Rupees clinked and papers rustled within them. Finally, he produced a thick leather cord, and shrugged as he handed it to her. "Will this do?"

"A little ugly, but yes, it'll do." She smirked at him, accepting the cord from his outstretched hand and quickly using it to tie up her hair. Then she took a single step backward, and a deep breath. "Are you ready for this?"

"Uh, I'm not quite sure -"

But before he could get any further, suddenly Midna's hair shot up into the sky, twisting around itself and forming thick fiery sinews - and then it lunged forward, as if it had a mind of its own, and suddenly a fist uncurled from within it, gigantic orange fingers dangling in the air.

Link could only stand there, neck craned to peer up at the huge hand hovering above him, mouth agape and eyes big as dinner plates. The strange hand was far larger than him, thick fingers curling and uncurling as if anxious to be used.

Silence hung in the air for a long time, and neither one of them moved - until finally Link managed to stutter, "Wh...what? What _is_ that?"

Midna giggled, enjoying his shock. Never once did he blink, only stared up at the strange hand-hair above him, and swallowed. "It's convenient, that's what it is. It can extend longer than any normal arm." To demonstrate, she shot the hand far above, until it vanished into the canopies of the trees. Then she brought it back down, and grinned. "It's stronger than any human, too." She curled the fingers of her hand-hair around a particularly thick tree branch, and broke it in half with a resounding _crack_ as if it were naught more than a twig.

Link spluttered, and tried to say something, but couldn't.

Midna reached up to untie the leather cord, and the hand dissolved, hair falling to surround her face once more, as normal as if nothing had ever happened to it. "That one is the easiest for me to do, because I've practiced it the most. It used to sap a lot of my energy, but I'm used to it now. Still, I couldn't keep it up for probably more than ten or twenty minutes."

"That... That was amazing," Link finally managed to say.

"Isn't it?"

"Imagine how much easier my chores would be if I had hair like that! I could... sit and read a book, or something, while my hair fed the cows and horses _for_ me!"

Midna threw back her head and laughed, loud. "Sweet Farore, what a mental image that is!"

Link grinned, and toyed absently with an earring, shifting from foot to foot. "I never knew Twili had such, uh, interesting magic."

"Not all Twili have that last power," Midna said after she'd finally regained control of her amused cackling. "Just my mother and I. I haven't met anyone else who can do that."

"That's..." He shook his head, eyes still wide. "I don't even know, it's just... I kind of feel like I'm having a really strange dream."

"Maybe you are." Midna smirked.

"I... can't really disagree." Link chuckled, still nervously shifting his weight. "And I don't have anything _half_ that interesting to show you..."

"Maybe you could teach me all about swordplay one day." Midna grinned, and tried in vain to brush her fingers through her tangled hair.

"Sure, if you want me to." He blinked at her, as if still disbelieving what he had just seen, and sighed to himself. "Maybe tomorrow? Because, I really should get back to Castle Town and see where Laik ran off to..."

Midna rolled her eyes. "Of course. Anyway, tomorrow, then?"

He nodded. "Tomorrow. Same place we met today."

She smirked, holding out a hand for him to shake. He stared at it for a moment, and then accepted it, once again meeting her eyes as a smile played at the corners of his mouth. "It's a promise," she said, and his faint smile split into a wide grin.

* * *

 _Salaas. Anyone but Salaas. Even Ludin, but not Salaas._

Crimson eyes peered round a corner for naught more than a second before retreating. Nobody strode down the corridor in front of her; it remained entirely empty. And Midna was grateful for that. After running away from the castle yesterday and that morning, she couldn't bear the thought of what would happen if she ran into Salaas.

Heart hammering, drawing in a shaky breath, she curled her hands into fists, clutching at the fabric of her dress - and she set off down the hall.

She neared the corner, when, suddenly, someone rounded it before she did and crashed right into her.

Midna yelped, rather ungracefully, and stumbled backward, tripping over the hem of her dress. A strong arm reached out to catch her, and a familiar voice stumbled over an apology.

Thankfully, the voice and the arm did not belong to Salaas, but -

"Eldren!" the Twili gasped, immediately righting herself, and she smoothed out a few wrinkles in her clothes. He apologized again, and she waved a dismissive hand. "Nothing to worry about. I was just... avoiding Salaas." A sheepish smile crossed her lips. "Don't tell him."

Eldren tried to smile in return, but it trembled, and then fell. Midna narrowed her eyes, studying his face, the confusion in his eyes, the clench of his jaw. "Are you all right?" she finally asked.

"Yes. I'm fine, I just... Father..." He stared down at his feet, and pressed his lips into a thin line.

"What about him?" Midna asked, concerned, remembering that the king was ill, and maybe - just maybe -

"He's fine. I mean, I think, I - I, nobody knows what's happened to him. He was acting so strange..." Midna noticed his hands trembling, and he laced his fingers behind his back, no doubt to disguise the fact. "I'm sorry."

"Really - it's okay." Curiosity bubbled up within her, threatened to overwhelm her, and she cast a glance around the hall to make sure no one was coming. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

"I..." He trailed off, and clenched his jaw even tighter. "My father would like to meet you."

"What?" Midna blinked at him in surprise, and cocked a brow. "He feels well enough to?"

"I don't know," the prince groaned, turning around as if ready to pace the corridor - but then he turned back to face her, and furrowed his brow.

"Eldren. What _happened?"_

"He..." Eldren shook his head as if to clear it, and took a moment to gather his thoughts. "When I left so abruptly yesterday, it was because my father was... I don't really know, actually, he was gasping for breath and staring, unseeing, at the ceiling. His eyes were so glassy I could hardly even see his pupils..." Once more he trailed off, staring down at the ground, unable to meet Midna's eyes. "Then he just, stopped. Stopped moving, stopped breathing, stopped... stopped _everything._ We thought he was dead. I mean, my sister and I, we were there, and we couldn't... couldn't do anything..."

"But... you say he's fine?"

"He is." Eldren gave a single slow nod, eyes faraway. "I think. After he stilled, Zelda and I just... stood there, we didn't know what to do. And after a little while, he gasped, once, and then the color returned to his eyes, and he sat up and acted like he was perfectly fine. Like he had never been ill in the first place." This time he gave into the urge to pace, and with hands still laced tight behind his back, he walked back and forth along the hall, muttering to himself.

Midna watched him with worry in her eyes, brows knit together. "Eldren, what are you doing?" But he wasn't listening. _"Eldren!_ You said he wanted to meet me, didn't you?"

He stopped, mid-step, and his eyes shot up to meet hers, wide as if he had been snapped out of a trance. "Y-yes," and she inwardly cringed at his stutter. There was something unnerving about seeing him so flustered.

She pressed her lips together, and once again smoothed her dress. "Then, take me to him."

For a moment he only stood there, silent, eyes faraway - and then he nodded and turned away. "Follow me."

She obeyed, following him through twists and turns and up a tall, narrow winding staircase that soared past what might have been the hall that led to Zelda's chambers. Up they went, up, and further, until Midna's legs burned and she wondered how much higher a single staircase could possibly climb. Into the sky, it seemed, and then finally -

Eldren emerged ahead of her into a corridor, wider than the rest, but no less monotonous - marble walls and ceilings, carpeted floors, and dull paintings of equally dull people lining the walls. There, at the end of the hall, stood a door. Just one single door, tall and imposing, dark wood carved with a depiction of war between the Golden Goddesses and the demons.

"In here," and Eldren's voice crept to her ears, naught more than a whisper, and she nervously chewed at her lip.

The prince stepped forward, hands at his sides, back straight, head held high, and she thought he looked far more composed than he had only moments before. Reluctantly she followed him, bare feet still filthy from her trek through the forest alongside Link. That memory, though only hours ago, felt like the shadow of a dream that had faded with years.

The door loomed ever closer, until it stood directly before her like an impassable wall of darkness. She looked up at it, swallowed, and wondered why she felt so afraid of what might lie beyond that door.

Maybe the way Eldren had acted, nervous and afraid and anything but collected. Maybe the tall staircase, that seemed to lead into the sky itself. Maybe the dark door with carvings of war. Maybe the fact that she didn't even know the king's name; he was naught more than a mysterious shadow hiding in the corners of her mind, and she knew nothing about him.

Whatever it was, she had to resist the urge to reel back when Eldren curled his fingers round the handle and turned it.

And then he swung the door open.

Beyond it laid a room much more pleasant than she had expected - colorful carpets strewn across the floor; a fat canopied bed, slightly askew, in the corner; pedestals displaying all sorts of strange statuettes and trinkets scattered across the room with no particular order; pictures hanging on the walls, most of them anything but straight. To her it seemed messy in an almost endearing way, and she found herself relaxing - just a little - as she carefully followed Eldren into the room.

She hadn't noticed a chair settled in the corner nearest the door, large and blue and thick. A man stood from it to greet them, wide lips curving into a smile, and when she looked at him she realized he and Eldren were quite similar in appearance - strong chin, dark skin, golden eyes. But his hair burned red, unlike his son's.

Eldren cleared his throat, looked between Midna and his father, and tried to smile. "Father, this is Princess Midna of the Twili."

The man stepped forward, tall and powerful. He towered over Midna, even though she was quite tall herself. She looked up at him, the strong set of his jaw, his squared shoulders, back impossibly straight.

"It is good to finally meet you, Princess Midna," the man spoke, voice deep and resonating. "I am King Ganondorf."

* * *

 **A/N: Hehe.**

 **Sorry if it seems my style keeps changing (does it seem that way? I'm honestly not sure). I'm trying to find my comfort zone with this story, haha... xD; I might have found it, since this chapter flowed really easily for me and I didn't struggle too much with thinking about how to write certain sentences and descriptions. Anyway, tell me what you think. As always, critique is great if you have any!**

 **Thanks so much for reading and reviewing, you guys are great!**


	5. Demon

Moonlight poured down upon the world, gentle and silver, by the time Link finally decided to take a break. With a wide yawn, he sheathed the sword at his hip, and turned toward the tool shed in which he always stored the weapon. But it was so far away, and his house was closer, and he was so tired...

So he turned toward his house, and shuffled through the emerald grass, yawning again. The thought of his bed filled him with warmth and comfort, and brought the hint of a smile to his lips. It had been enjoyable to practice swordplay again, though he'd forgotten how tiring it was.

His hand reached toward the door, turned the handle slowly. He crept inside, booted feet quiet, in an attempt not to wake his parents -

But only then did he notice a figure sitting at the table, silhouetted before the light of the moon streaming in through the open window behind. "Link." His mother's voice.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" he whispered.

She stood, and by the light of night he thought he could see a faint frown etched into her face. "Where have you been all day? Laik told me you left him to tend to the stall. And he mentioned a Twili woman."

Link stared, eyes wide, and swallowed. "Well, I - I..."

"Link," she whispered a sigh, and wrapped her arms around him. Furrowing his brow in confusion, he hesitated for a moment, hands hovering awkwardly in the air - then he returned the hug. "I wish you wouldn't. Twili are dangerous creatures."

"Mother -"

"I know what you'll say. She isn't like the rest. And... I can't stop you from seeing her if you really want to. But just know that I love you, and I'm worried for you, that's all."

He smiled; shut his eyes and leaned into his mother's embrace. "I know. I love you, too. I'll be careful, I promise."

"Good night, Link."

"Night, mother."

She released him, though not entirely, hands still pressed lightly against his arms. Her eyes swept him up and down, and she gave a nod of approval. "Yes... good night," she repeated. Her voice seemed oddly distant.

Link nodded in response, one brow slightly raised. "Yes, mother. See you in the morning."

Her hands dropped, loose, to her sides.

"Are you all right?" Link asked, concerned about her strange, detached behavior.

"Yes. I just... feel a little wary, but I'm not sure why." Shaking her head, she said nothing more, only turned and left, heading to her room. Link could hear his father snoring from within. Sighing to himself, he headed in the opposite direction.

The door to his room creaked open beneath his palm. Silent as a whisper, he crept inside, boots padding against packed dirt floors. He unstrapped his sword from around his hip and slipped it beneath his bed, then removed his boots. Laik slept on the opposite side of the room, breath quiet and even in sleep.

And, with yet another yawn, Link climbed into bed without even bothering to change his clothes, pulling the blankets over his shoulders and shutting his eyes. Sleep sang a silent lullaby to him, shrouded him in darkness, and swept him away.

And he slept. Slept quiet and peaceful and -

 _Thud._

Link's eyes shot open, and he stared unseeing at the ceiling, long ears listening intently to a sound - the sound of heavy _footsteps -_

"Laik?" he wondered aloud, turning his head to see if his brother was responsible for the noise.

But he still laid in bed, eyes closed - though they fluttered open, glinting in the moonlight, upon hearing his name. "Huh?" he mumbled groggily.

"Don't you hear that?" Link hissed in return.

Another footstep.

For a moment silence fell like a stifling cloak over the house, and the two brothers exchanged worried glances amidst the darkness. It could have been their mother, or their father, awake to collect a late-night drink of water - but something told them that wasn't the case.

And then their bedroom door crashed open, screaming, and slammed against the wall.

Link and his brother shot up, blankets falling off their shoulders and drifting to the bed below. In the doorframe stood a tall figure, silhouetted by moonlight. "Who are you?" Laik demanded, voice trembling.

The figure, female in form, did not respond.

Swallowing heavily, Link reached slowly beneath his bed, fingers scrabbling at the dirt floor for his weapon.

Moonlight peered in through the window above Laik's bed, casting a faint blue square on the ground. The silhouette took a single step forward, into the square of light, and it illuminated her face.

Skin, white as fresh fallen snow - eyes, yellow and terrible as the scorching sun, undisturbed by pupil or iris. Intricate black patterns crawled up her face, surrounding her eyes, her thin nose, and retreating into her hairline like a skittering spider.

"W-who..." Laik stuttered, quiet, shaking.

Still the woman did not speak. Pale lips pressed together, unmoving, and her chest did not rise with breath. She only stood in the light, a horrible living statute. If even living at all.

And then without warning she lunged.

"No!" Laik screamed, and leaped out of bed. His brother watched, eyes wide in horror, and realized too late that the woman had been lunging to attack him. And Laik, Laik protected him, hands reaching for the intruder's throat -

She batted him away with an arm, as easily as if he were a pesky insect. Laik flew across the room, crashed into the wooden wall with a groan, and sank to the floor.

Link's fingers grazed leather, the leather of his scabbard, and he heaved a sigh of relief. Without hesitation he grasped the weapon and pulled it out from beneath his bed, shaking hands unsheathing the blade. The woman showed her first sign of emotion then - narrowing her terrible yellow eyes. And then she lunged again.

Link met her attack, both hands curled round the hilt of his sword. Her arm slammed right into the edge of the blade, and he expected it to slice it right off - but it didn't. It _didn't,_ and he could only sit there on his bed, mouth agape in shock, as she crashed into him, completely unharmed, and the two of them fell onto the bed in a struggling heap.

Left hand still firmly clutching the sword's hilt, Link rolled out of bed and collapsed on the floor with an _oof._ The woman landed behind him with a heavy thud. He scrambled to his feet, wasting precious seconds slipping on the dirt floor in his utter panic.

"Laik!" he called desperately, rushing to his brother's side.

The man did not stir.

Heavy feet fell behind him, walking slow and deliberate, and Link desperately shook his brother's shoulder. "Get up, Laik," he hissed, but to no avail.

A hand, cold as ice, clamped onto Link's shoulder.

Instinct took over then, and he whirled, sword a silver blur. The edge of it crashed hard into the woman's arm. And even then - even then, he saw, it left only a tiny cut in her skin. But instead of red blood, a strange black substance festered beneath the surface, and leaked out onto the steel blade.

The woman screeched, reeled back, clutching the tiny gash as if it was a life-threatening injury. Then she bared her teeth at him, and he waited, waited for the inevitable attack -

But she turned, and strode away.

 _What?_ Link stared in confusion. _Where is she going...?_

His parents.

Heart, once hammering, now froze. And he told his legs to move, told himself to get up, run, _run, please -_

But he couldn't move.

He curled his fingers tight around the hilt of his sword, knuckles white, and gritted his teeth. He stumbled to his feet, and ran out of his room, ran for his parents' lives, even when he tripped over nothing at all and flew forward with a shout of surprise. His arms flailed wildly, and the weapon soared away from his grip, through the open window nearby. He reached out, grasping the edge of the table to right himself before he could fall face-first onto the floor.

"Sweet Nayru above!" he cursed, staring in horror out the window, as if doing so would bring his sword back to him.

There wasn't any time to reclaim the sword. If he did, his parents - his parents would die to that _thing._ But if he didn't fetch the sword, then how would he ever defend them?

 _No time to think._ He dashed into his parents' room -

\- and watched the monster curl her fingers tight around his father's neck.

The man shot awake, thrashed, and tried to scream, but had no breath to make any kind of noise at all. All the commotion caused his wife to wake, and she gasped upon seeing a stranger standing over her husband, strangling him.

"No!" Link shouted, stumbling into the room and crashing into the monster. She barely flinched, only kept her grip tight on the struggling man's throat. His eyes bulged, and rolled back in his head - and then he fell limp.

 _Impossible._

No, it couldn't be happening. Couldn't.

"Get off him!" Link screeched, voice cracking in a rather undignified manner - but he didn't care, didn't have _time_ to care about something so petty. Hands scrabbled at the monster's arm, trying to pry it away, desperately clawing at skin cold like stone. And, just like stone, the arm did not move.

"What's happening?" his mother demanded, voice shrill and terrified. Her eyes stared - wide, unblinking, as the intruder finally removed her hand from the limp man's throat and turned. Toward Link's mother.

A single second passed. A single second that stretched for an eternity. A single second, in which silence and terror reigned supreme.

Swords could barely damage this beast. Bare hands could do nothing at all.

He had nothing. Nothing to protect his mother. Nothing to slay the monster. Nothing, _nothing..._

But he leaped at her nonetheless. She whirled to face him, inhuman eyes devoid of any emotion at all. And she reached - reached out to attack him, just like she had thrown his brother across the room...

Link ducked, a split second before her arm would have slammed into his abdomen. It passed harmlessly over his head instead, by only a few inches. Now in a kneeling position, head level with her knees, he grabbed them without a second's hesitation, and attempted to throw her to the ground. But she stood, stiff as a statue, and gripped his arms with heavy hands.

 _Din, no,_ he thought in horror as she peeled his arms away from her legs, as easily as if he were an insect.

Then she lifted her foot - _Farore, no, help me!_ \- and before he could do a single thing, smashed it into his stomach. He slammed to the floor with eyes wide in pain, the breath knocked out of him, and wheezed for air he couldn't get.

Curling her lip - perhaps in anger, or impatience - she whirled, long black hair flying around her face at the sudden movement. Her hand stretched forward, palm facing Link's mother -

 _Run!_ he tried to scream, _Run for your life, please!_ But no words came. No breath to speak. He could only lie there with mouth agape, begging for air. Could only stare with horrified eyes as the monster stepped toward his mother, and curled a hand around her neck. She shoved the woman, gasping and screaming, against the wall, and lifted her far above the floor, feet dangling and kicking wildly in the air.

Link gasped; a loud, deep gasp, filling his desperate lungs with air once more - and cringed when the movement sent agony arcing up and down his side. "Mother!" he cried. Her fingers clawed, desperate, at her captor's hand. But the beast remained unfazed. Of course it did, the accursed thing.

Link scrambled to his feet despite the pain in his side, tripping over himself in his hurry. Hurry to stop the monster, hurry to save his mother -

But she fell limp. And her eyes drifted shut.

Link stopped, mid-step, and only stared, mouth agape in disbelief, at his mother's unmoving body. The terrible demon's grip loosened, and the body slipped to the floor with a quiet _thump._

Then it turned to look at him, yellow eyes blazing.

He fled, fled like a coward, because he could do nothing else.

What if his parents were still alive? He couldn't help wondering if they had simply been knocked unconscious. But they couldn't be dead. Impossible. It was impossible.

"Laik!" he shouted, stumbling into his room, only to see his brother stirring, groaning as he pressed a hand to his head and slumped forward. "We have to get out, now!"

"Whhhh...at?" Laik slurred, dull eyes slowly rising to meet his brother's. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean, 'what's going on'? We have to escape! Can you stand?" Link stumbled over his own words, desperate to get them out of his mouth. They had to flee from the demon, before it killed them...

The other Hylian only stared blankly, and took a while to respond. "Stand? Why? I'm dizzy..."

"Sweet Golden Goddesses, Laik," Link hissed. "Are you okay?"

A heavy footstep, from outside their room. And then another.

 _"Din!_ Laik, hurry!" Link wrapped an arm around his brother and hauled him to his feet, even though the movement forced him to bite his lip to stop from crying out in pain. Laik swayed and muttered some kind of protest. "Try to walk, all right?"

"Huh? Why? What's happening?"

"Don't you remember?"

"I... I remember sleeping... why'd you wake me up?"

Teeth gritted, Link dragged his brother toward the door - and stopped short when he saw the awful woman standing there, just outside the room, demonic eyes ever unblinking.

For a moment he could only stand, frozen in fear. Upon seeing her, Laik squinted, and groaned. "Who..."

 _She's slow,_ Link thought. Never once had he seen her run. And so maybe, just maybe -

Arm still wrapped tightly around his brother's near-limp body, he hauled him outside of the room, and stumbled past the demon as quickly as he possibly could. Just as he had thought, she only walked toward them, but made no attempt to move any faster.

Link stumbled across the threshold, agony still screaming within him, and he bit his lip until it bled to stop the wail in his throat from escaping. "Can't you walk, at all?" he whispered to his brother, voice strained.

His response came delayed. "Huh... yeah, of course."

"Then walk."

"...Yeah."

He didn't.

Clenching his jaw, Link pulled his brother outside of the house, risking a quick glance over his shoulder. The beast stopped, stared after them, as if she knew she couldn't catch up, and wasn't even going to try.

Maybe, if he could leave Laik somewhere safe, he could return and check on his parents, see if they were still alive, just unconscious...

A loud snap rang through the air, and, still walking, Link cast a glance over his shoulder to see what it was. The demon, of course - she had snapped her fingers, it appeared. And a tiny flame ignited in her palm.

 _What?_

She leaned forward, pressing the flame to the wooden walls of the house. They caught fire immediately.

Link's eyes widened. "No!" he shouted, nearly dropping his limp brother when he spun to face the monster. "You can't do this!"

She snapped her fingers again, ignited another tiny flame, and pressed it to a different wall. This one caught fire too.

"What's happening, Link?" his brother slurred, and his tone held a hint of tired, confused fear. "Where are mother and father?"

Grinding his teeth together, Link turned again, as the monster created yet a third flame and touched it to an unscathed portion of the wall. The fire grew, licking hungrily at wood, stretching flaming fingers all along the house.

 _This can't be happening._ Link continued forward, refused to give up - even when his brother blinked in confusion and, with finally the smallest measure of lucidity, glanced over his shoulder and cried out at the sight of the fire. He squeezed his eyes shut to block the light and groaned. "No, go back, mother and father are still in there!"

"I know they are." His voice cracked, against his will.

"Then go back!"

Tears gathered in Link's eyes, stung them, blurred his vision, but he refused to let them fall. The fire roared behind him, cast cruel flickering orange shadows across the dark fields, and the moon's gentle light could not swallow it.

"Let's... let's get you to a healer, Laik," Link whispered, voice hoarse.

"H...huh? Wait, mother and father... what about them? What are you _doing,_ you can't just abandon them!"

Link did not respond. He didn't have the strength to.

Fire cackled around the demon, licked at her, and left her entirely untouched. She stood, a dark silhouette against angry flames. An entire section of the roof snapped, groaned in pain as fire devoured it, and fell with a crash to the ground. And she watched. Only watched with cold yellow eyes, as the two brothers fled.

* * *

"Your highness. Your highness! _Midna!"_

"Shut up!" she called reflexively, not even fully awake or aware of the words that had just slipped off her tongue. "I'm tryina sleep!"

"You'll be late!"

 _This feels familiar,_ Midna thought with a groan as she covered her head with her thick, warm, perfect silken blankets. Hadn't she been in the same situation naught more than a couple days ago, Salaas calling through the door that she'd be late for something?

"Curses," she muttered aloud, heaving a deep sigh and crawling like a wounded dog out of bed. She flopped onto the carpeted floor, and very nearly fell right back to sleep there.

"Your highness," came the irritated voice, and Midna huffed.

"What?" she snapped.

"You're supposed to meet with the king in the dining hall for breakfast."

Of course. Nobody wanted to meet her for dinner, or even lunch. They all wanted to have breakfast with her. Why so early? Didn't they understand that the early hours of morning were for sleeping?

 _Stupid Hyrulians,_ she thought with a moan as she stumbled to her feet, swaying groggily and pressing a hand to her head. _Well, technically, the king's a Gerudo. And his son is half-Gerudo. Do they still count as Hyrulians?_

To think the king was Gerudo! A surprise, indeed. From the moment she had met Eldren, she had known he was like no other Hylian she had ever seen or studied about. Now, she supposed, she understood why.

Tired, heavy feet shuffled toward the drawers that held her clothes, and Salaas refused to give her a single moment of peace - "Are you up yet?"

"What do you think?" she hissed, tearing open the drawer and fishing through it for a suitable dress. This time she chose an orange-red dress that matched her hair and complemented her figure. An intricate bodice made of black lace swept around the top of the dress, and the skirt of it boasted beautiful, complex black embroidery. One of her fanciest dresses, and appropriate for the situation, too. After all, who knew how strict the king was? Eldren might have been patient about her sharp tongue and penchant for sarcasm, but what about his father?

With a heavy sigh, she sloppily peeled off her nightdress and donned the fancy orange one instead. Then she shuffled, yawning, over to her vanity, and plopped unceremoniously into the chair before it.

"Are you almost done?" Salaas grunted.

"I haven't even brushed my hair yet. Be quiet and just - let me get ready, won't you?"

"You're already late..."

Curling her lip in irritation, Midna rolled her eyes and elected not to respond. She tore a brush through her tangled hair as quickly as she could. Then she hurriedly applied mascara, and lipstick to turn her lilac lips deep purple, complementing the natural amethyst markings above her eyes.

Usually she didn't care much for makeup, but she had to admit to herself - she feared the king. Feared the way he towered above her with scorching yellow eyes. And feared that, if she didn't look just perfect, he would...

Would what? Admittedly, she wasn't quite sure, but she brushed through her hair one more time just to be safe, then tied two locks of it in front of her so that they cascaded down her chest.

"Your highness -"

"Yeah, yeah, Salaas, I get it. And stop worrying, because I'm ready! Sweet Din above..." Smoothing out a few nonexistent wrinkles in her dress, she made her way to the door and pried it open, heaving a tired sigh.

Salaas smiled upon seeing her. "You look beautiful."

She blinked in surprise at his comment. Salaas had been angry at her for a long while, and had given her a seemingly endless lecture when she'd returned from her latest visit with Link, some nonsense about safety and not going anywhere without bodyguards. "Thanks."

"Don't ruin it by treating the king rudely."

Of course. Midna narrowed her eyes. "I'm not _that_ stupid. Just because Eldren said I could act however I wanted around him doesn't mean the king feels the same way."

"You certainly acted brash around Princess Zelda without her permission."

"She isn't _half_ as scary as the king." She brushed past him. Shaking his head, Salaas followed after her, and they entered into the long white corridors of Castle Hyrule.

And almost immediately, someone crashed into the Twili princess, nearly knocking her to the ground. "Watch where you're going!" she snapped as the person who had run into her - a young boy with frenzied brown eyes - stumbled backward with an undignified yelp. Something fell to the floor and rolled for a bit, glinting in the morning sun streaming through tall windows.

He looked up into her face - and upon seeing red, and blue, and fiery orange, his eyes grew wide and afraid. The poor young boy stumbled back a step, stuttering, "S-s-s-sor...sorry."

Midna relaxed, shoulders drooping, and glanced down to the floor. There, a glass vial lay on the carpet, still rocking back and forth from its fall. "I'm sorry too, that was partly my fault." She knelt to the ground, long fingers curling round the vial and offering it to the boy. "You dropped this?"

He swallowed, and hesitantly accepted it, careful not to touch her strange blue hands.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" she asked as she straightened herself again, smoothing out her slightly-rumpled skirts.

"I - I..." He shook his head, and gulped, unable to look away from her face that he, no doubt, found terrifying.

She planted her hands on her hips and cocked a brow. "Well?"

"Um, um, I... The, the head physician told me to hurry and give him this." He showed her the vial, filled with a viscous red liquid. "We have so many injured people in the infirmary that we ran out..."

Midna's brow furrowed, and she let her hands drop to her sides. "Injured people? Why?"

"I don't..." He gulped, again, and finally managed to tear his eyes away from hers. "I have to go." Without another word, he sped off down the hall again.

And without skipping a beat, Midna turned to follow him.

"Where are you going?!" Salaas demanded. "You're going to be late to breakfast!"

"I don't think it's normal for their infirmary to be so full of injured people!" she called over her shoulder as she ran. "I need to check it out!"

"But the king -"

"He can wait!" She skidded to a stop for only a second to glance over her shoulder at her bodyguard. "For all we know, they might not be having breakfast anymore because of this influx of injured people."

"What if this is just normal for them?"

"I doubt it."

"Do you have proof?"

"Don't you trust my intuition?"

"No."

Midna rolled her eyes and turned away again. No time to argue with Salaas. Only time to run down the halls, feet ever bare, pounding against deep carpet. She heard him following close behind, gait heavy.

For a moment she had lost the boy, but now she saw him again, rounding a bend. She hurried after him, dashing around the same corner, and watched as he scurried down a flight of stairs. "Midna!" Salaas called behind her, but she did not stop to listen, only hurried down the steps, feet slapping against stone. The boy turned no more corners. Instead he sprinted through a set of open doors at the end of the stairs.

Midna slowed, dress once fluttering falling to rest, loose, around her ankles. Hand pressed against the cold marble wall, she hesitantly peered into the room with curious eyes.

And utter chaos greeted her.

Nurses scurried back and forth, bandages and bedsheets and vials of salves and medicines burdening their arms. Whispers drifted around the room, occasionally a shriek or groan of pain, and the quiet, reassuring words of a healer. Injured men, women, and even wailing children lay scattered across the room, and there were so many that some of them had to lie on blankets on the floor because there were not enough beds.

Salaas finally caught up to her, slowing to a stop, panting, behind her. She turned her head to meet his eyes, lips pressed into a thin line. "Does _this_ look normal?" she muttered to him.

Furrowing his brow, the Twili man peered inside, and his eyes widened. "No, it doesn't," he admitted after a long pause. He shook his head. "What's happened here?"

Midna's eyes narrowed, and she straightened her posture. "I'll find out."

"Wait -"

She didn't. Determination in her step, she strode into the room in all intimidating, Twili glory. Nurses cast wary glances to her as she stopped one in particular and asked, "What's going on?"

"I - y-you," the nurse stuttered, "you should ask the head physician." She pointed with a finger trembling lightly. "He's over there."

"Thank you." Midna gave the woman a single nod. Small, delicate feet carefully navigated the injured bodies strewn across the floor, and she felt the wary eyes of Hyrulians boring into her back as she went. Salaas followed her, his movements a clumsy imitation of hers. For a moment the room fell utterly silent, broken only by the occasional tired cough or whimper of pain.

The head physician glanced up from his work of mixing various herbs together. Thick gray brows furrowing, he froze, hunched over his large wooden bowl - then he straightened, and cleared his throat. "You must be the Twili princess."

"I am." She stopped before him, and cast a glance at the infirmary surrounding her. "I just wanted to know what in the world happened here."

"We're..." The man lowered his eyes and sighed. "Nobody is quite sure. People were blabbering incoherently about 'demons' for a while. The only person who could speak clearly passed out as soon as we laid him in a bed."

Midna folded her arms loosely across her chest. "Is he awake now? I'd like to ask him what he knows." _Demons._ If Hyrule was in danger, then she wanted to know what to do to protect it. If she would someday sit on the Hyrulian throne as its queen, then she wanted to be a worthy one.

The physician raised his head and scanned the room, craning his neck to see above the scurrying nurses. "Yes, he is. He's right there -" And he pointed to a bed in a far corner of the room - "in the corner."

Midna's gaze followed his finger, and landed upon the figure in the bed.

And she cussed, loud.

"Your highness!" Salaas hissed. "A princess should _not_ speak like that!"

She ignored him, not caring about what a princess should do. Or even the fact that she was a princess at all. She scrambled desperately across the room, eyes wide, nearly tripping over a dozen bodies in her path. The head physician called, frenzied, behind her - "He still doesn't feel well, please don't aggravate him!"

Upon hearing all the racket, the young man lying in the corner bed cast a confused glance in the direction of the noise, and his eyes met Midna's -

"Link!" she gasped, any grace gone from her step as she nearly tripped over the foot of his bed and collapsed right atop him. She barely caught herself on the edge of his bed before she could, and drew in a deep, shuddering breath as she looked down at him in shock. No blood. Her shoulders relaxed. "What happened to you?"

"M...?" But he never finished speaking her name, only stared at her with eyes wide in confusion. His gaze swept her figure up and down, bewildered at her unusually fancy dress, her makeup, her meticulously-brushed hair. He tried to sit up, and immediately cringed, gritting his teeth in pain.

"What happened?" she repeated, gently grasping his shoulder and pushing him back down.

He did not respond, and only then did she notice - his eyes, dull, clouded, gray rather than brilliant blue. Her lips parted, some sort of question lingering on her tongue that she never voiced. Link looked at the wall, and the ceiling, anywhere but at her. "A demon," he finally whispered.

"What?" She carefully sat at the edge of his bed and studied his face in concern.

"This... demon attacked, during the middle of the night. She had yellow eyes and strange black markings." He swallowed, and squeezed his eyes shut. "I think she came in through the window. It was open. I can't..." He raised his arm to cover his eyes, even if the movement caused him to clench his jaw in pain. "I can't believe I was so stupid. I saw the window was open, why didn't I shut it?"

"What did she do, Link?" Midna whispered to him, afraid of upsetting him.

"She..."

Silence.

Link bared his teeth, ground them together, and she thought she saw something glint on his cheek for a split second. And there, again -

She blinked in surprise, and her mouth hung agape. Crying, he was _crying,_ and she had no idea what to do for him. Tears streamed down his cheeks, and though he uttered not a sound, his shoulders heaved and his face turned red. "Link? Link..." Midna reached for his face, to wipe the tears away - but decided against it, and let her hand drop uselessly to her side once more.

Then a heavy hand clamped onto her shoulder. She jumped a little in surprise, and her head spun to face... Salaas. Of course Salaas, why couldn't he ever leave her alone? Especially at a time like this!

"Your highness," he whispered, probably thinking Link couldn't hear, completely missing the fact that he was Hylian and possessed sensitive long ears. "Who is this?"

"Leave, Salaas," she commanded, lip curling.

He grimaced. "Princess. I can't do that, as you very well know. And I..." He trailed off, studying Link with a furrowed brow. The young Hylian man had already regained control of himself, and laid silent and eerily still on the bed, arm still draped over his eyes. "Is this... He looks familiar."

 _"Leave."_

"I can't -"

"Just - go!" Midna snapped, and heads turned to investigate the sudden outburst. She looked around the room with wide eyes for a moment, then dropped her head in shame. "At least a few feet away, please. Some space. You don't have to leave the room entirely, just... Salaas, please..."

He studied her face, brow raised in suspicion, and did not respond for a long while. Then, finally, he turned to obey.

Once he walked out of earshot, she turned back to Link, still clenching his teeth in pain. With gentle fingers she removed his arm from his face and placed it carefully on the soft bedsheets, breathing a quiet sigh. "Where did you get hurt?"

"My ribs." His voice trembled, but he managed to speak nonetheless, and she admired him for it. "I think one is broken, or maybe two, I don't... I don't know, I forgot what the physician said..." He swallowed heavily, and shut his dull eyes again.

"Do you mind telling me how you broke your ribs?" Her voice carried soft, gentle, afraid she would push him to tears again. She didn't want to. But she needed to know, and then maybe, maybe she could help.

"She - the demon. She kicked me to the ground, and slammed her foot onto my stomach... She was stronger than any normal human. She was like a living statue, and felt kind of like cold stone. She... k-killed them before I could do anything."

 _Killed._

Who?

For a moment she feared tears would pour down his cheeks again, but none did. He remained quiet, and when he opened his eyes again, half-lidded, they were not the eyes she knew.

"Killed..." And uttering the word sent a chill dancing down her spine.

"My parents," he specified. "I managed to save Laik. I brought him to the healer at the edge of Castle Town, but apparently there were other attacks too... The healer was too busy, and anyone she couldn't take care of, she sent to the castle."

His tone almost matched his eyes - it held no emotion at all. And that alone chilled her. She only stared at him, breath quickening ever-so-slightly, worried for him, and for Hyrule. He closed his eyes again, and it amazed her, how grief could swallow him one moment - and then the next, he was calm and collected. So calm that it almost felt unnatural.

Midna swallowed, and tried to distract herself from such thoughts.

"There must have been a lot of attacks in order to injure so many people," she murmured, mostly to herself. "And a lot of commotion in the castle. Why didn't it wake me...?" Clearly she was far too heavy of a sleeper.

Her eyes flicked to him again, the sight of his pale, clammy skin and terribly disheveled hair sending a stab of pain through her heart. "Link?"

His response came delayed, and tired - "Hmm?"

Unsure of why she had even spoken his name in the first place, she said nothing, only gave a nervous shrug. A silence passed between them, heavy and cold, like fingers of ice. Somewhere in the room a child wailed for her mother. Midna stared absently at the floor, unsure of what to say or do.

"Why are you here in the castle?" Link asked, words slurred with exhaustion.

"Uh - well, I -" Nervously chewing her lip, she looked down at her hands pressed tightly into her lap. "I..."

She cast a glance to him again, only to see his eyes closed peacefully, his breathing even. Asleep.

A smile tilted the corners of her lips, and she only looked at him for a while, breathing a quiet sigh through her nose. "I'm just glad you're safe," she murmured to him.

And she found the courage to place her hand over his, and brush his messy golden hair away from his eyes, because he'd never know.

* * *

 **A/N: And that's the most fluff you're going to get for a while. ;P As of now, I feel like Link and Midna might have a bit of a crush on each other, and that isn't love. Not _yet._**

 **Also? I'm not even sorry for updating so often.**

 **Haha, in all seriousness, updates _will_ slow down soon. I have other stories I should really be working on; I'm just ****procrastinating them by writing this instead. Whoops. The only reason this one came out so fast is because I wrote it immediately after posting the last chapter; I didn't release it then because I was obsessively proofreading it. Even then, it might have typos/mistakes. If so, I'm sorry. I tried my best.**

 **If any of you are screaming at me in confusion at the first scene - don't fret. I have a plan. It will all make sense eventually.**


	6. The Hyrulian Council

The door swung open, squealing on its hinges.

"And who are you?" her sharp voice demanded.

"Princess Midna," the soldier addressed her. He stood from the couch along with his comrade, and bowed his head in greeting. Across from them, Ludin sat, calmly sipping tea that smelled of lavender. "I have come bearing grave news."

The Twili planted her hands on her hips and frowned. "If it's about the 'demon' attacks, I already know." She had only just returned from the infirmary, and to find two strangers casually sitting on her couch had been quite surprising indeed.

The man grimaced, nervously shifting his weight. "It's - partly about that, yes. But the most important news is... you've been invited to attend the Hyrulian royal council meeting."

"I've -" Midna's eyes widened. She could only stare at the guard in shock, making him swallow nervously under her gaze.

 _Her,_ invited to attend the council meeting? Impossible! Yes, she would someday sit upon the Hyrulian throne if she married Eldren -

What did she mean, _if?_

\- but still, she, an outsider, a _Twili_ of all things, who had arrived in Hyrule for the first time not a week ago. Invited to a council meeting already!

"Are you sure?" she finally managed to say, blinking once, twice, as if to dispel the illusion before her. Surely not. Surely he was wrong, playing some kind of immature joke, or maybe just confused.

He nodded. "Prince Eldren insisted on seeing you there."

"Eldren did?" Midna cocked a brow.

"He said that if you're going to be the queen someday, you might as well start attending council meetings now..." The soldier nervously adjusted his mail shirt, even though it already hung perfectly straight.

"How interesting." A smirk crossed Midna's lips, and she turned to Salaas. "That prince is really trying too hard to win my heart."

Her bodyguard only stared at her, silent.

"Take me to this council meeting, then," Midna told the soldier, turning to face him again.

He inhaled deep through his nose, and exhaled again, as if trying to calm himself. His hands jittered with stress, and his voice shook as he strode toward the door, comrade in tow, and murmured, "Follow me please, princess."

Midna couldn't tell if he feared her, or the situation. Or both.

After sharing a concerned glance with Salaas, she turned to follow. And to her surprise - so did Ludin. He abandoned his tea and stood, tall and menacing, orange eyes emotionless as they always were. He swept silent as a phantom to his princess's side, still remaining ever soundless even when she sent him a questioning look.

The castle halls never changed, never grew any less monotonous. Silence stifled the air, broken only by footfalls on thick carpet.

Finally the two soldiers stopped before a door that looked no different from the hundreds of others. Midna groaned inwardly, wondering how in the sweet name of the Sacred Realm she'd ever manage to navigate the castle when it became hers to live in.

Jaw clenched tight, the first soldier reached a trembling hand and turned the knob.

Immediately a dozen hushed whispers leaked from the room beyond - but all of them silenced as Midna strode inside, orange dress cascading about her like a waterfall of silk. A dozen critical eyes turned to judge her and glare at her. But she ignored them. Moving with fluid, confident grace, she went to the prince's side. To his left sat Princess Zelda, and to his right, an empty chair. She took it, giving Eldren a small, weak smile. He returned it.

Cruel eyes turned; watched Salaas and Ludin enter. And harsh judgement froze into icy fear.

Midna's bodyguards came to stand, imposing, behind her, two monoliths of ethereal power, near as still as statues.

The silence stretched ever longer. It gave the princess an opportunity to investigate her surroundings. Marble walls and ceilings, of course, but unlike the other rooms, no carpet adorned the floor. It, too, was bare marble, glowing in the light of the crystal chandelier high above. The room stretched long, and the mahogany council table nearly filled the entirety of it. Chairs surrounded it, occupied by silent, staring Hylians. And a Gerudo king, of course, seated at the very head of the table, near the tall white window that stood from floor to ceiling.

Still the silence did not end. A dozen men and women, old and young, warily watched her and her bodyguards as if waiting for beasts to pounce.

Midna took a deep breath through her nose, and -

"Well? What are we waiting for? We're here to talk, aren't we? So, talk!"

Silence shattered like glass. Midna's voice echoed through the long white room, loud and powerful.

The people blinked in surprise. And still said nothing.

Midna resisted the urge to roll her eyes. _What a bunch of idiots, gaping in fear just because of a few Twili..._

"Your majesty." One of the men, old and fat and bald, stood from his chair. He very nearly slammed his hands down on the wooden table, and shot an icy glare in Midna's direction. She met it with fiery eyes narrowed. "With all due respect - I don't feel it's right to allow a... a _Twili_ in this room," and she could tell he had barely managed to avoid saying the word "monster".

Eldren's eyes blazed. He might have opened his mouth, just a little, as if prepared to protest.

The old man continued before he could. "We all know they practice dangerous magic. And for hundreds upon hundreds of years, they lived in the Twilight Realm. A realm of shadows, and evil, and dark magic. How do we know they're even trustworthy? They shouldn't be here!" His voice rose with every word, until he was almost shouting in anger.

"Galin," King Ganondorf began.

But the exasperated man would not stop. "They are beasts, not even worthy to be considered remotely human! The Goddesses banished them into the Twilight Realm for a reason!"

"And who returned us to this realm of light?"

The voice, while quiet, rang strong and icy and terrible. A chill settled over the room, and Midna glanced curiously over her shoulder to see who had spoken -

\- and her gaze met Ludin's deep, eerie orange one.

He only stared at her, eyes devoid of pupil or sclera, and the tiniest smile might have flitted like a shadow across pale blue lips.

Midna couldn't help shuddering.

When no one gathered the courage to speak, Ludin continued. "The Golden Goddesses did. They recognized that we are not to blame for the sins of our ancestors. They knew that we had become a peaceful, gentle people in the realm of eternal dusk. And they knew that we were finally worthy to return to Hyrule."

"But - but," Galin spluttered, face flaming in rage. "How do we know that's true? The Twili could be lying!"

Ludin's expression never changed as he addressed the infuriated man. He only stood, stone-faced, eyes piercing. "How could it be anything but true? The only link between light and twilight was destroyed by one of our very own queens, two hundred years ago. There is no other way to connect the two worlds. Save for the power of the Goddesses themselves of course. And more than that - we were only allowed to return to Hyrule fifty years ago. Although it was before my time, there are plenty of people who remember the event very vividly... both Twili _and_ Hyrulian. Some of the latter witnessed it, after all, and can testify to it. Excuse me, sir. I thought you knew. I apologize for making such an assumption."

His words held only congeniality, but Midna considered herself a master of sarcasm - and there was plenty of it, hidden behind Ludin's tone. She resisted a smirk.

"If you are quite finished with this matter," the king growled, standing from his seat and leveling an impatient glare at Galin. The large man gulped, bright red face paling immediately, and he sank into his chair once more. "We have more important things to discuss. The demons raiding Hyrule are a serious matter."

Murmurs of unease swept the council room. King Ganondorf held up a silencing hand, and the people obeyed instantly. "Where do you think they have come from?"

Galin's eyes widened in anger, and he pointed a finger across the table, mouth dropping open in preparation to speak -

"Other than the Twili, Galin," Ganondorf grunted in annoyance.

Midna fought a grin as the man's mouth snapped shut just as abruptly as it had opened.

A woman's timid hand lifted, and she cleared her throat. "Your majesty... the demons have been described with yellow eyes and strange black markings. Usually, this is a sign of... of necromancy."

Gasps rippled through the council, and people turned with wide eyes to utter urgent whispers amongst each other. Ganondorf's eyes shot wide open. His hands clenched into tense fists - then he loosened them again, and his expression returned to normal.

Midna furrowed her brow in confusion. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Eldren sitting there, lips grim, jaw clenched. Though Zelda's face remained still as a doll's, her eyes roiled, a turbulent storm. Midna cast a quick glance over her shoulder, and saw equal confusion in the eyes of her bodyguards. Salaas's eyes, mostly - Ludin remained expressionless as he usually did. That tiny smile he'd offered her earlier had been the only emotion she'd ever seen on his cold face.

Twili did not deal in the magic of raising dead. Their ancestors had dabbled in necromancy, but ever since her people had started trying to repent of their fathers' sins, dark magic had been outlawed, and soon utterly forgotten. She knew nothing of it.

"And how would you know this?" another woman demanded, dark eyes cruel.

The timid woman lowered her eyes, and swallowed. "It isn't much of anything, I just... I read a few books about necromancy. Not -" Her eyes shot up, and widened, and she frantically shook her head. "Not to practice it, of course! These books were merely warnings, as a way to detect necromancy and avoid it. It mentioned yellow eyes and thin black markings on their faces."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Galin hissed. "You could be the necromancer raising these demons from the dead!"

"No, no, please! I just -"

 _"Enough!"_ Ganondorf bellowed.

Immediately everyone stilled.

"I don't know who could possibly be performing such a disgusting magic and using it to destroy this beautiful kingdom. It could be any one of you. Or it could be someone entirely different, or even a group of people. Whatever it is -" His cruel, accusing golden eyes swept the room. The council cringed under his piercing gaze. "I will find them. And I will destroy them."

Midna heaved a deep sigh. "Your majesty. That's all fine and good, but until we find the person who started all of this, what are we going to do about these demons?"

"We'll find a way to kill them," was Ganondorf's simple response.

For the first time, Zelda spoke up. "And how might we do such a thing? Without a clear way to defeat the demons, we will sacrifice many lives in an attempt to discover their weakness. Our soldiers do not deserve such a fate."

"I volunteer the Gerudo!" Galin exclaimed. He stood so abruptly that his chair toppled over behind him, sending an echoing clatter through the room. "They do nothing but plunder. This is their chance to be useful for once!"

Tense silence seemed to be a theme that morning, Midna noticed. She stared at Galin with lips pressed into an irritated line. _What an idiot,_ she thought with a tiny sigh.

King Ganondorf raised his chin, and a thick brow lifted. "I do nothing but plunder, and I'm useless. Is that what you're saying?"

Galin flushed, and then paled, and tried to sink back into his seat - but since it wasn't there, he ended up collapsing onto the ground with an awkwardly loud _thud._ He scrambled frantically to his feet once more. "No, no, your majesty, not at all! You are much different from your people. So much better!" He reached, fingers scrabbling, to lift up his chair once more without looking at it. "You've been nothing but a... a _wonderful_ king, majesty. Wonderful! I'm just saying that the Gerudo - not, not you, just your people, they're a bit misguided is all."

"Sit down, Galin," the king commanded. "In your chair this time."

Midna snickered. She couldn't help it.

Galin glared daggers at her, but said nothing. He finally looked behind him to see where his chair had fallen, and lifted it up, then plopped down into it with an angry huff.

"If we might return to our original topic of discussion." Zelda sat regal as always. Midna wondered if her shoulders ever relaxed or if her back ever slouched. "How will we deal with these demons?"

"I said it before, and I'll say it again. We'll find a way." Ganondorf's tone rang icy. His eyes left no room for argument. "We won't rush into battle without a strategy. We will think of the best way to preserve our men. They will not die in vain - if at all."

"And I assume you have a strategy already in mind, father?" Zelda might have cocked a brow, just a little, or perhaps Midna only imagined it. "Does any such strategy exist - to defeat a powerful enemy whose weakness remains undetermined without shedding the innocent blood of our soldiers?"

The king ground his teeth. "Until we devise such a strategy, we will hide our people within the walls of the city." He reached with one hand to rub his forehead in distress, and slammed his other hand onto the table. "Dismissed!"

"Majesty," one of the women spoke, small and slight, "when will the council convene again?"

Ganondorf's sigh hissed impatient from between tense lips. "Tomorrow. After lunch."

A sensible time, Midna thought with a smile, as the council members stood from their chairs with grumbles of exhaustion. "After all this stress, I'm just going to take a nap," she heard Galin grunting to someone nearby him. "I think I'll post extra guards outside my chambers in case one of those Twili tries to kill me in my sleep."

 _Tempting,_ Midna thought, and almost said it aloud to him, but decided against it. She didn't want him taking her teasing _too_ seriously.

Eldren stood from his chair beside her, and casting a glance to him, she saw the stress that dulled his eyes. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this, Midna." He pulled her chair out for her, and she thanked him and stood. "I just figured you'd want to be here for such an important meeting."

Zelda stood from her own chair, clasping her hands gently in front of her. She said nothing, only listened.

The Twili woman grimaced, and waited for the council to file slowly out of the room. "You aren't dragging me into this. Whoever apparently used necromancy to create a bunch of demons is the one dragging me into this. And I need to do something about it." Brows furrowing, she chewed her lip. "If I'm going to sit on Hyrule's throne someday -" Speaking the words aloud made her stomach drop - "then I need to care for its people. And... what if these demons decide to attack _my_ kingdom? I'd rather find out a way to destroy them before that happens."

Eldren sighed. "If you'd like, we could further discuss this over lunch. Would you like to join us, Zelda?"

She nodded once. "Gladly." A small smile crossed her lips. "We could host it in the privacy of my chambers once again."

He gave her a smile of thanks. Hands nervously laced behind his back, smile turning just slightly shy, he said to Midna, "Actually, I woke early this morning and asked the cooks to bake you a strawberry pie. I wanted to surprise you with it at breakfast. Unfortunately breakfast was cancelled for obvious reasons..."

Midna blinked at him. "What? Strawberry pie? How'd you know it's my favorite?"

"Remember the very first time we had dinner - when we tried to hide behind facades?"

Midna grinned. "Glad that's over with."

"Me too. But, you mentioned something about having the cooks make you a strawberry pie. I figured you must have liked it."

"I can't believe you remember that. Even I don't."

He chuckled, letting his hands drop to his sides again. "I just wanted to remember what makes you happy. Hyrule doesn't need a grouchy queen on the throne."

Midna laughed at that, loud and hearty. "It's nice to know you think I'm grouchy all the time. You're just _so_ flattering."

His ears burned red. "I didn't mean it that way." Eldren pressed his lips together and stared down at the ground, unable to decide whether he wanted to keep his hands at his sides or laced behind his back. "I was just kidding -"

"So was I!" she interrupted. "Take a joke, your highness." Still grinning, she teasingly nudged his elbow, and earned a sheepish smile from him in return.

Sitting on the throne beside him as his queen might not have been so bad after all. She was beginning to like the prince... but only in a friendly way. The thought of marrying him felt wrong. She couldn't envision it. Suddenly her smile dropped.

Wrong. It was all wrong. But why? It shouldn't have been. Eldren seemed kind, and marrying him would bring peace to both their people.

"Are you all right?"

His voice broke her from her thoughts. She turned her head to blink up at him. "Just thinking about that strawberry pie you mentioned."

Eldren grinned. "Ah. I hope you enjoy it."

She forced the corners of her lips to lift into a smile. "I'm sure I will." Her head tilted to face the Hyrulian princess. "Lunch, then?"

Zelda raised her chin, just a fraction. "I assume you remember where my chambers are?"

"Well... no." Midna grinned sheepishly. "Don't worry, Eldren can take me there."

The princess glanced to her brother. He only returned her gaze and sighed. "Of course. I'll show her the way."

"Good. Then it's settled." Inclining her head in a bow of farewell, Zelda smiled. "I will see the both of you in my chambers for lunch." And then without waiting for their responses, she only turned, and left the council room, heels clacking on the marble floor beneath her.

* * *

"Father seems much too eager to send our soldiers into danger." Eldren sipped at his raspberry tea, eyes fixed on the table and the food strewn across its surface.

Zelda might have frowned - but she kept her head held high, and met Midna's eyes. "The king has been acting rather irrational ever since our mother died," she explained. "Sometimes he still treats her death as if it happened yesterday."

"When did she die? If you don't mind my asking," Midna murmured. She bit into a delicious slice of strawberry pie and fought the urge to chew it with her mouth open, as was habitual for her.

"Two years ago." Zelda sighed quietly, and averted her gaze, eyes faraway. "We all feel her loss rather keenly, but father more than the rest of us."

Midna tried not to grimace. Sunset eyes flicked between Eldren and his sister, and she stared down at her hands lying limp in her lap. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." The Hyrulian princess's gaze finally lifted, and met Midna's once more. "Please forgive the king for his cold demeanor. He was not always like this."

"Nothing to forgive!" With a faint smile the Twili dismissively waved her hand. "If anything, Galin was the unbearable one. Do you know how difficult it was for me not to punch him so hard that he'd forget his own awful name?"

Eldren hid his smirk behind his cup of tea. "I wouldn't be opposed to that."

"Now, now," Zelda chided, giving the other princess and her brother a stern look, stormy eyes narrowed. "Galin may be closed-minded, but violence would only prove that his suspicion of Twili is correct. We wouldn't want that, now would we? Especially if you are meant to sit on this kingdom's throne one day, Midna."

Biting at her lip, the Twili lowered her gaze and sighed through her nose. "I know, I know. You're right. That's the whole reason I'm here - in the hopes that somehow your people will accept mine someday."

"You are already well on the path to achieving your goal." Zelda set her tea on its plate with a quiet _clink._ "My brother and I do not fear you. Quite the opposite, in fact."

Eldren's ears might have flushed, but maybe Midna only imagined it. She quickly averted her eyes from him, staring down at her bare feet poking from beneath her dress, and nervously chewed her lip.

 _Please don't tell me he actually_ likes _me already?_

Her heart dropped like a stone into her stomach.

No, impossible. Not already, he couldn't - especially not with her sharp tongue and personality. Wasn't she unbearable? How could he _like_ her, of all things?

But if he did -

How would he feel if he knew she only thought of him as a friend?

 _That shouldn't matter to him,_ she tried to convince herself. After all, theirs was only to be a political marriage.

But she had more important things to think about, she chided herself. The demons invading Hyrule, for example.

Was Zelda saying something?

"...but I do not think she could be a necromancer. She is much too kind-hearted, and cares for the well-being of this kingdom. What motive would she have in raising an army of the dead?"

"I know," Eldren agreed, and Midna tried to pretend she had been listening all along. "I never thought it was her, even when she said she'd been reading books about necromancy. She likes to learn, especially when it comes to protecting others. It's extremely likely that she only read the books thinking that it would help her someday in the future."

Zelda nodded once. "It may all be a facade. Perhaps she _does_ wish for the destruction of this kingdom. But I find that highly unlikely."

"So -" Midna set down her plate of food and brushed a few bread crumbs off her dress that she hadn't even noticed until now - "what should we do? Try to figure out who this necromancer is, or focus our efforts on finding the demons' weakness?"

The Hyrulian princess pressed her lips into a thin line. "I do not know. I feel it might be beneficial for us to... to..."

Slate-blue eyes flicked to the side, swirling with dark clouds, and Midna cocked a brow. She and the prince exchanged a confused glance - though she hadn't known the other princess for too long, it seemed strange of her to trail off in such a manner. "...Yes?" Eldren urged.

"To study necromancy," Zelda blurted, hands curling tight in her lap.

 _What?_

Tense silence suffocated the room. Midna swallowed. Eldren gaped.

No sound tore away the stifling shroud of stillness. There was only quiet, and the disbelieving eyes of the prince and the Twili princess.

"Zelda, what -" Eldren began, but could speak no further.

"I have not lost my mind," Zelda promised, proudly lifting her head, thunder roaring in her determined eyes. "But if we know nothing of this magic, then we know nothing of the enemy's weakness. Perhaps - perhaps if we study necromancy, we may discover a way to defeat them. We will _not_ use the dark magic. Even if our lives depend on it. But we will use its weaknesses to our advantage, and through our study of it, we might even uncover the mysterious necromancer."

"But -"

Whatever Eldren had been about to say, Midna interrupted him. "You know, Zelda, I hate to say it, but it makes sense. You have to know your enemy to conquer them. We can't exactly run in to fight them swinging blind. We need _some_ kind of knowledge to come up against them with..."

Eldren's golden eyes blazed as he flicked them between the two princesses. "Are you both _mad?!"_

Midna's lip curled in disgust. "I know, Eldren, I agree, the thought of delving into necromancy - even just reading about it and nothing more - is terrible, but... it might be necessary."

"I - I can't..." His eyes dropped. "This is ridiculous."

"I know you care for Hyrule and her people," Zelda said to her brother, a faint smile on her lips. "You do understand this might be the only way to save them, don't you?"

"But..." Eldren furrowed his brows and shook his head, burying his face in his hands. "Yes. I understand. It's just... it feels so wrong."

"I know it does." Zelda took a deep breath through her nose. "And as such, we cannot allow anyone outside this room to know of our plans. They might misunderstand." Piercing eyes met Midna's, and she only gave a shrug of agreement in reply. Zelda nodded. "Good. Search anywhere you can for information pertaining to necromancy. And do _not_ let anyone see you doing so."

Eldren finally lifted his head. He ran a hand through his short, immaculately-styled hair, mussing it terribly, though he seemed not to notice. "All right."

Midna grinned. "Exciting, isn't it?"

The prince turned his gaze to hers with narrowed eyes. "You have an interesting idea of exciting."

"Or you're just boring."

"You're probably right." His shoulders sagged. "But I'll do it - for Hyrule and her people."

"Great!" Midna lightly elbowed his side, and earned a faint smile from him in return. "I'm proud of you."

"Then we shall speak to each other when we uncover important information," Zelda said, standing from her lavish chair. "I thank you both for coming, and wish you the best of luck in your respective searches."

Eldren stood as well, squaring his shoulders in an attempt to appear more confident. The action only served to make him look stiff, and nervous. "I'll talk to both of you if I find anything."

"Same here," Midna pledged, getting to her feet and absently smoothing out a few wrinkles in her dress.

"Thank you for coming, Midna. And for caring so much about Hyrule even though you have not been here long." Zelda bowed her head, and the Twili princes returned the gesture with a forced smile.

"No problem," she managed to say. Though it was clearly a lie - truly she wished for Hyrule's best, especially if she was to become its queen someday. But the thought of demons raised from the dead made her nervous, to say the least. And promising to study necromancy didn't help matters.

"Then, I will see you both." Zelda met Eldren and Midna's eyes, and might have given a tiny smile.

"Yeah. Thanks." Unable to force any more words out of her mouth, the Twili spun on her heel, dress flying about her ankles at the sudden movement, and headed toward the door.

Salaas stood there, gaze distant and hard, hands dropped loose to his sides. Upon seeing his princess approaching, he opened the door for her.

Midna stopped beside him. She peered into the hall beyond, and saw not a soul lingering there. "Salaas," she whispered.

"Your highness?"

Cold eyes flicked to his face, but he kept his gaze steady, trained on the wall across from him. Brow cocked, Midna once again looked away and into the hall. "Did you hear anything at this meeting?" she challenged.

Salaas hesitated. His hands, lightly trembling, clasped together before him until dark blue knuckles turned white. "Nothing at all, highness."

Midna's eyes narrowed. "That's right." And she strode into the carpeted corridor of the castle without another word.

* * *

The library. What better place to begin her search for information on necromancy?

Of course, books on the subject might be difficult to find, Midna knew. It was a forbidden magic, after all. But surely in a library so grand, there had to be _some_ kind of information pertaining to the matter. And if there was none? Then she would simply move on, and find somewhere else to search - though, where, she knew not. Not yet anyway.

Zelda had emphasized the importance of not letting anyone know of their little quest. Understandable. If the council knew, they'd undoubtedly blow the entire situation out of proportion and blame the three royals for creating a demon army. And they'd _especially_ blame Midna. After all, not many people trusted her quite yet.

Shadows danced in the flickering light of her lantern. Bare feet, near soundless, crossed the wooden library floor and stopped before a tall oak bookshelf that looked no different from the rest.

Long beams of silver moonlight bathed the room in gentle light, the harsh flame of her lantern providing a sharp contrast to it. Her nervous hand lifted the lantern before her. One side of her face glowed blue. The other, orange.

A single long finger reached toward the shelf, trailing along the leather spines of the books.

 _The History of Hyrule, Volume One. Volume Two. Volume Three. The Origin of the Triforce. The Legend of the Sky. The Golden Goddesses._

Gritting her teeth in irritation, Midna resisted the urge to heave an exasperated sigh. Any sound at all might put her jeopardy. The glowing light of her lantern was already something of a liability. She'd been searching the library for hours, and had found no information she needed. None at all. And even with all her scouring, she hadn't covered a _fourth_ of the library yet.

A cold shadow passed her, tall and silent. Midna's eyes widened, and she spun on her heel, black nightdress whipping wildly about her legs at the abrupt movement. A trembling hand frantically lifted the lantern and shone it onto the face of the intruder -

 _Ludin._

She heaved a sigh of relief. Shoulders sagging, she allowed the lantern to drop to her side, and shook her head. "Did you _have_ to do that?" she hissed as quietly as possible, momentarily forgetting the need for utter and complete silence.

Orange eyes pierced the darkness, staring deep into her own, and she tried not to shudder. The look might have been one of apology, but she couldn't tell. The only emotion she'd ever seen on Ludin's face had been that tiny hint of a smile he'd given her during the council meeting earlier that day.

"Is anything wrong?" she asked him, voice lowered to near-silence.

He only shook his head in response, and pointed down an aisle behind him. Furrowing her brow, she followed him when he turned and headed in that same direction. Had he found something? She tried not to get her hopes up too much.

Bookshelves loomed tall, oaken walls filled with immeasurable knowledge, watching the two Twili pass between them. The light of Midna's lantern cast long, unreliable shadows across the floor.

Ludin stopped before a great door, mahogany carved with depictions of battle that glowed cruel in the firelight. Lips pressed into a thin line, Midna reached forward with her free hand and rested her palm atop the golden doorknob.

Eerie silence cloaked the library. Midna's heart hammered wildly in her chest. What would she find beyond the door? Swallowing heavily, she turned the handle -

\- and it would not budge.

Furrowing her brow, she tried it again and again, and gritted her teeth in annoyance when still it did not obey her command. "Locked," she hissed aloud, and turned to Ludin with an undying flame of curiosity in her eyes.

He only stared back at her.

Chewing her lip, she spun around and strode back the way she had come, not caring about her loud footfalls on the floor. Her bodyguard followed after her, silent as always.

Moonlight cascaded onto her tall form, head held high and eyes narrowed as she passed through the aisles between bookshelves.

 _So close. I was so close._

Irritation bubbled up within her. The temptation to throw the lantern to the ground and watch its glass shatter all over the floor threatened to overwhelm her. Lip curling, she turned to Ludin and shoved the object into his hand before she could break it. He didn't even give her a confused look.

Before the double-doors that served as an entry and exit to the library stood Salaas. His small pupils bored into hers, a question rising within them, but the princess said nothing. She only pushed open the doors, and they creaked beneath impatient palms.

"Highness?" he questioned as quietly as possible, as she stepped into the white corridor beyond with a grimace etched into her features.

Still she did not respond. Silent feet swept past the unconscious guards lying before the library. She did not even spare them a cursory glance. It had been difficult to slip sleeping potions inside their drinks, but Ludin could be quite sneaky when he wanted to. The memory made her smirk, just a little, and slightly lightened her dark mood.

The lantern's light danced behind her, casting her own shadow impossibly long before her. The castle seemed quite a different place at night, she thought as she hurried through its darkened hallways. Torches were rare, scattered few and far between along the walls, windows revealing only black night beyond. The occasional suit of armor standing guard against the wall now seemed almost living, and Midna swore she could feel eyes watching her from within their helmets. She tried not to shudder.

Finally she came to the door of her chambers. Salaas opened it for her, and she did not hesitate to enter and collapse into the nearest chair. She leaned far back into it, carelessly throwing her legs up onto the low table before her and crossing them, folding her arms across her chest. A huff of irritation sent a lock of orange hair fluttering off to the side.

"Your highness?" Salaas asked again, shutting the door once Ludin entered. The both of them only stood there, watching their princess closely.

"I was this close!" Midna growled, throwing her hands into the air. "That door is _obviously_ important. If the library door itself wasn't locked, then they must not care if people enter it unsupervised in the dead of night."

"That's probably what the guards were there for -"

"So why is that door locked?" Midna continued, as if Salaas hadn't even spoken. "Because they want to hide something, that's why!"

"Who is 'they'?" Salaas asked with a grimace.

"I don't know!" The Twili princess stood and paced around her chair, stopping only occasionally to tap her foot on the ground and glare at the wall as if _it_ was the mysterious necromancer. "You think I'd know? That's the entire reason I want to get in there, Salaas. To find out who locked the dang door in the first place, and who's trying to keep secrets!"

Her golden-eyed bodyguard clasped his hands before him and sighed. "Highness, please. You're overreacting. It might not be anything important at all. Journals of past kings and queens, perhaps, even war or tax records they don't want anyone to see."

Midna vehemently shook her head. Still she did not meet his eyes, only stared blankly at the wall for a moment, then began to pace again. "I searched that library up and down. I saw everything you just mentioned - tax records, war records, old journals. But you know what I didn't see?" Finally she stopped, and turned to look at him, eyes blazing.

Salaas paused. He pressed his lips into a thin line and allowed his shoulders to droop in exhaustion. "What?" he finally asked, voice quiet and tired.

"One single book about necromancy." Her brow cocked. "Strange that they'd be so open about their war and tax records, and heck, I even saw books about all kinds of potentially dangerous magic. But nothing about necromancy. Nothing at all."

"Still," Salaas began, but Midna interrupted him again.

"Something important _has_ to be beyond that door!" Chewing her lip, she began pacing again, and Salaas only sighed at the sight of it. "I just know it. I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow, and ask Eldren and Zelda about it. They might know..."

"Good idea." Salaas hid a yawn behind his hand. "But for now, highness, sleep. You need it. And I do too." He mumbled the last words, and turned to walk toward the door that led into his room. "If I may go to bed now?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Midna waved a dismissive hand at him. "Not like we can do much else tonight anyway."

Her bodyguard gave a grateful nod before he shuffled sleepily to the door. He turned the knob and pushed it open.

But before he could step inside, Midna turned to him. "Salaas..."

He stopped. Heaving a heavy, tired sigh, he glanced over his shoulder at her. "Hmm?"

The Twili princess hesitated, and nervously shifted her weight onto her right foot. "...Thanks."

He stared at her for a moment, eyes blank, and then offered her a small smile. "You're welcome." Then he stepped inside his room, shutting the door behind him.

Midna only stood there for a long while, silence - and Ludin - her only company. She turned to the other Twili in the room with a frown on her lips. "Well? There's something important behind that door, isn't there? I feel so... so wary about it. Don't tell me I'm going insane for feeling like this..."

He blinked at her.

Midna narrowed her eyes at him. "Come on, speak! I know you can. You just did, in the council meeting."

Ludin lowered his chin a fraction, and though he lacked pupils and one could never quite tell where he was looking, she felt his eyes piercing into hers. She swallowed. "If you will excuse me, princess - I only speak if I deem it utterly necessary. I apologize if my silence offends you." He brushed past her, placing the lantern on the table. Once again he tucked his hands into his sleeves, where they always resided, and then headed toward the door of the room he shared with Salaas.

Midna shook her head. "It doesn't offend me. Just scares me. If you don't want to intimidate people so much, why not... _say_ stuff more often? To be honest, you're kind of terrifying." She planted her hands on her hips and cocked a brow at him.

And he smirked in response - an expression that sent chills skittering beneath her skin like foul insects. Immediately her hands dropped to her sides again, and she resisted the urge to take a few steps away from him.

"Perhaps that is my intent." His eyes broke through the darkness like orange knives. "Good night, princess." And then without another word, he turned and swept silent into his room.

Midna gulped. Rubbing her hands on her suddenly-cold arms, she decided it was high time to sleep for the night.

* * *

 **A/N: Have you ever wondered what some of the more major characters in this story look like? Well, I just finished up a sketch of all of them and posted it on my Deviantart! The link to it can be found in my profile, if anyone's interested. (And since links on profiles fail lately, I have an alternate way to get there too.)**

 **I kind of feel like I'm self-advertising, but _whatever, I don't make money off this_**

 **Thanks so much for reading x3**


	7. Suspicions

Princess Zelda's knuckles hovered above the door, and she swallowed.

She was alone. She probably shouldn't have been, she knew, but she feared intimidating the poor woman should she bring anyone along with her. Taking a deep breath, she allowed herself to knock.

The noise echoed hollowly in the room beyond the door. Not a soul answered it.

So the Hylian princess tried again.

This time she heard the distinct swishing of skirts and uneven, tired footsteps behind the oak door. With a creak it opened, just a little, and from behind it peered a pair of dull gray eyes. "Hello… oh. Princess," the woman behind the door said, and panic might have flashed in her face. "May I help you?"

Zelda hurried to reassure her. A smile tilted her rose lips. "It is a pleasure to see you, Lady Ali," she said gently. "Is it all right if I step inside and ask you something?"

"I - I -" Her eyes widened, and she gulped audibly. "Princess, I promise -"

"I am not here to harm you," Zelda told her, casting a furtive glance over her shoulder to see if anyone had followed her, but there was no one. "I only wish to speak to you about what you said at the council meeting yesterday - something about necromancy."

Lady Ali swallowed again - but she opened her door further, revealing half-brushed hair and a simple blue silk gown, faintly rumpled. She stepped aside, permitting entry. The princess took advantage of this and stepped inside. "Really, I promise you," the other woman murmured, eyes downcast, "I had nothing to do with it. I just…"

"I know," Zelda sighed, shutting the door behind her. The room before her was devoid of life, save for herself and Lady Ali. "Where is your guard?" she found herself asking. As a noble, the lady should have had one at the very least, standing outside her door - and if not there, then inside, perhaps. But he was nowhere to be found. Her brow furrowed almost imperceptibly as she wondered where he could be.

"I…" Lady Ali hugged herself and glanced nervously to the side. "I sent him away."

Zelda's brow furrowed even further. But before she asked anything else concerning the matter, she questioned, "May I sit down?" as she motioned to the plush couches in the center of the room, surrounding a round wooden table.

"Oh! Of course, please!" the lady hurried to reply, pink dusting her cheeks when she realized how impolite she had been. "I am so sorry, princess…"

The Hylian woman seated herself in the center of one of the couches, and laced her hands loosely but regally in her lap, keeping her chin and back and shoulders straight as always. "All is well, Lady Ali, do not worry. May I ask why you sent your guard away?"

The skittish woman gingerly took a seat across the table from the princess. Still she would not meet her eyes. "I just… I don't know, I… I wanted some privacy," she fumbled to say.

Zelda's eyes narrowed for a single moment in suspicion. "Whatever for?"

"I -" Here the lady's eyes widened a little, and she began drawing mindless patterns in the fabric of her dress with trembling fingers. "I was… getting dressed."

"The guard waits _outside_ your door, where he is supposed to, doesn't he?" the princess asked. "Then you should have no reason to fear him capturing a glance of you changing."

Lady Ali's eyes squeezed shut. She was lying, it was _obvious,_ and though the kind-hearted Hyrulian princess only wanted to give the poor girl the benefit of the doubt, she was finding that more difficult to do by the second. "I, I'm," the lady stuttered. "I can _promise_ you I'm not the necromancer, princess, you have to believe me, please!" Suddenly her eyes shot up to meet Zelda's, and shadows of fear flitted within them.

Zelda's stomach twisted. Her face was so genuine, her gray eyes so utterly _terrified_ that she couldn't help believing her.

But, perhaps -

For the first time in a very, very long time, the princess allowed her perfect composure to slip. She leaned forward across the table, palms pressed against its surface, and her eyes narrowed. "I believe you. But tell me this, Lady Ali, if you will - do you know who the necromancer is?"

The other woman shook. Her pale lips parted as if to say something, _anything_ really, but she could not find the voice to speak.

Terrible silence loomed over their shoulders, their only company, and not a sound existed in the suddenly-frozen world to shatter it. For a moment that lasted a lifetime, they only sat, their breath stolen.

And then, finally - "Yes."

Zelda could not stop her heart from skipping a beat. She kept her composure, though, as she had been trained to do, and she leaned back, settling into her normal regal posture once more, hands folded in her lap. Now, the truly pressing question.

"Who is it?"

To her surprise, the answer came much more quickly that time. "I can't say."

Zelda's face softened considerably, and she resisted the strong urge to reach across the table and lay a comforting hand across the other woman's. She cared only for the well-being of her people. Seeing poor Lady Ali so afraid was almost more than she could bear. "I do not understand how you know so much about necromancy when I've never before seen a book on the subject through the entirety of Hyrule. I do not know what could have possibly driven you to this fear, or how you know who the necromancer is. But I do know this - that I am your princess, your guardian, and want only what is best for you." She offered Lady Ali a sweet smile. "And I need to know. So that I can help you, and so that I can help the rest of Hyrule, because if we sit here and do nothing, an entire world might fall."

The lady swallowed heavily at that, and she kept her eyes trained on the intricate rugs beneath the table as if they were suddenly the most interesting thing she had ever seen. "Princess, I just… I'm so sorry. I can't." She shut her eyes again, and clamped a trembling hand over her mouth.

"You _must,_ Lady Ali, for your own sake and the sake of an entire kingdom," she pushed.

But the other woman only shook her head frantically, dark hair flying about her face. "No, no, no, I can't, I can't! He'll _kill_ me, don't you understand?"

Zelda pressed her lips into a grim line. Yes, she had guessed as much. It was reasonable for the necromancer to threaten to kill whoever revealed his identity. But now she knew something she hadn't before - the enemy was male.

Not that that particular bit of information narrowed things down much.

With a heavy sigh the Hylian princess stood, gloved hands dropping limp to her sides. "Very well," she murmured, watching as the woman's shoulders began to shake with silent sobs. "I must leave, I'm afraid. But please remember to keep yourself safe. And keep your guard with you at all times." She turned to leave, feet silent as she stepped toward the door. She placed a hand on the knob, and turned it - but before she left, she cast one last glance over her shoulder.

"And I will not give up. I will return. Take care of yourself until then."

With that, she swept out of Lady Ali's chambers, leaving the woman to sob alone.

* * *

 _After_ lunch, the king had said. What a lie.

Of course, Midna had missed lunch only because she'd slept in a little too late - as she was wont to do - but still. She hated the way her stomach growled as the council members surrounded the table in utter silence, and wondered if they could hear the veritable beast roaring in her belly.

She cared not for propriety - but of course, that was normal for her - as she leaned forward, elbows resting on the table, chin pressed into her palm. She occasionally received an odd look for it but she didn't have the strength to care.

"…though, thankfully, all townsfolk who live nearby the wall were all safely taken inside last night and this morning. We only need to focus our efforts on the ones who live farther away," a thin man with a hawk-like nose was saying.

"We don't need to concern ourselves with them," Ganondorf grunted. "All the outlying villages and towns possess their own walls. They can lock themselves inside of those."

"Has the warning already been spread to the rest of Hyrule?" a dark-eyed woman asked.

The king nodded. "I've sent messengers throughout Hyrule. The closest villages should be informed by tomorrow or the next day."

"If the messengers survive," Galin grumbled.

Ganondorf elected to ignore the man.

Midna apathetically tapped a finger on the table's surface and sighed. Usually she would have been paying more attention - after all, she wanted to care about Hyrule and her people, since the both of them would be hers someday - but she was too hungry and tired, and, as a consequence, grumpy to even _pretend_ that she was listening. All she wanted at the moment was lunch.

The king seemed to notice the exhaustion in the faces of all the council members - and with a great sigh he slouched a little in his chair and said, "Dismissed."

Midna didn't even try to hide her relieved smile.

"What?" the dark-eyed woman demanded, staring at him with a deep grimace. "We've barely discussed anything! We can't possibly dismiss yet, that's ridiculous!"

Ganondorf shot her a glare. She quieted immediately. "We'll meet again tomorrow, at the same time."

The Twili princess tried not to groan at that. Instead she pushed her chair out without any other word from the king, and stretched her arms high above her head, not bothering to cover her wide yawn. From the corner of her eye she thought she saw Eldren smirking at her in amusement.

"What?" she mumbled at him.

He quickly looked away, trying and failing to hide his grin. "Nothing." He stood too, and so did his sister. The rest of the council began to seep out of the room, and the three royals went with them. "So," the prince began, golden eyes shifting between Midna and Zelda, "should we share a meal again?"

The Twili peered at the other princess, who stared ahead with a blank expression, and acted as if no one had said a thing.

Midna's lips pressed together. "Zelda?"

The Hylian princess blinked and turned her face the other woman. "I apologize, I seem to have lost myself in thought." A smile forced itself onto her lips. Midna tried not to lift a brow. "Would you mind saying that again?"

"Are you okay?" Midna asked instead.

"Yes." Zelda's smile was too tight for her own good.

Eldren finally seemed to notice as well, and he stared at his sister with brows furrowed and hands laced behind his back. "Really, Zelda, tell us if something's wrong."

Suddenly her eyes turned to slits. She cautiously surveyed every single member of the council as they filed past her, and she even cast a furtive glance in the direction of Midna's bodyguards. This time the Twili allowed herself to raise both brows in confusion. "I cannot speak of it here," she whispered. For a moment the three only stood there, exchanging worried glances. Then - "At dinner," Zelda murmured, and brushed past them without another word.

Midna stared after her.

 _…What?_

Eldren turned to the Twili princess with an apologetic smile. "I'm really sorry, but I should probably try and find out what's wrong."

"Of course," Midna managed to say.

"It seems she wants to meet us at dinner, however," the prince said.

Midna just nodded, her throat quite suddenly dry. She wasn't sure why - but seeing Zelda's seemingly constant composure slip made her nervous. Somehow she managed a tight smile. "I'll see you then."

He slightly bowed his head in response, then quickly turned to follow after Princess Zelda.

Midna clenched her hands into fists within the folds of her dark purple dress. If she had been tired before, now she only felt alert, and confused, and perhaps a little scared too. Though she hated to admit that to herself. Gritting her teeth, she turned, and strode off down the hall.

"Where are you going?" Salaas called after her, hurrying to catch up. "Your chambers aren't in this direction."

"I know."

Though she couldn't see him, she knew he pressed his lips into a thin line and glared at her. She could feel his eyes boring into her back. Of course, she ignored it. "Then why are you going this way?"

"I just…" She stopped, then realized her decision to visit Link and see how he was doing seemed rather irrational. He would want to know who she was. He would ask questions. Too many. Questions she wasn't ready to give answers to… especially not with Salaas and Ludin tailing behind her. She turned around then, and looked between her bodyguards, releasing a long sigh through her nose and relaxing her shoulders, having not even realized until then how tense they were. "Nothing. I just wanted some lunch." She shook her head. "But I'll go back to my chambers… as long as _you_ fetch it for me, all right Salaas?"

The Twili man paused and absently scratched at the bridge of his nose. "Fine. But Ludin - don't let her out of your sight."

Ludin only blinked in reply. Midna shot him a glance from the corner of her eye and tried not to grimace. She hadn't planned this out nearly well enough. How would she get rid of him? Maybe she wouldn't. He didn't seem as strict as Salaas, and she dared to hope that he wouldn't mind too much if she went to visit Link. Not to mention he rarely ever spoke anyway. He wouldn't pester her about it… would he?

Salaas vanished around a corner, and she knew this was a good a chance as any to take a trip to the infirmary.

So she did.

Despite having visited only the day before, she didn't exactly remember the way, and she kept running into dead ends, or the hallway would loop her back to where she started. Could the castle be any more confusing? With each wrong turn she ground her teeth in annoyance - surely Salaas would return soon, and he'd be furious if he found that she was missing from her room. She had to hurry.

Somehow, she managed to find her way. With a huff of annoyance and perhaps a little relief, she grumbled "Finally" to herself as she descended the stairs and crossed the hall into the infirmary. Many an eye landed upon her when she entered, but for the most part they all looked away again; she had been here quite recently, after all, and most of her novelty had worn off then. She knew people still feared her. But at least they didn't show it as much.

And, as she cautiously picked her way through the sleeping bodies scattered all across the floor, she could only be grateful when Ludin stayed in the doorway and did not question her.

There lie Link's bed, in the corner of the infirmary, and upon it sat Link himself - and Laik, too, but she tried to pretend he wasn't there as she stopped before the two of them.

Link lifted his sky-blue eyes to meet hers, and a smile spread across his lips that she hadn't quite been expecting. No, she expected a slew of questions, maybe even frustration, grief over the fresh loss of his parents. But she couldn't help smiling in return. She quickly wiped it off her face and planted her hands on her hips, pretending to be upset. "What are you doing up? You should be resting."

She felt Laik's gaze lingering on her. To her surprise, he offered no attempt to flirt. Instead he sat there, with tired eyes and a tired grimace and tired shoulders. Understandable, after what he had been through. She felt sorry for him, and gave him a look of sympathy.

"I'm fine," Link insisted. "Just a couple broken ribs, after all. They've been giving me medicine to make me heal faster."

She invited herself to sit at his side. Worried crimson eyes studied him, searching for any lie in his face. She found one. "It still hurts, doesn't it?"

He winced a little - almost unnoticeably, but she noticed anyway. "A little. When I breathe too deep or move around too much."

Laik looked between the two of them, and finally, after a long moment of silence, he said, "Hello, Midna."

Just this once she decided to be kind to him. "Hi, Laik." She smiled.

He grinned - a weak, strained grin, but a grin anyway, and she almost remembered the insufferable flirt he had been before this mess started. "I was beginning to think I'd turned invisible and you didn't see me."

"How are you doing?" she asked.

He shrugged. "As well as I can be, what with… with, everything." His eyes dropped, and so did his grin, and she realized it hurt her to see him so sad - even if she _had_ almost hated him before. And he and Link weren't the only ones. The whole of Hyrule suffered beneath the burden of demons, and a mysterious necromancer, and the sudden loss of their loved ones…

"Healers say I had a concussion," Laik continued. "I didn't really understand what was happening. I just saw this… this terrifying woman, and then the house was burning down. I didn't know what to make of it." He swallowed heavily and curled his fists until his knuckles turned white, the bedsheets crumpling beneath his fingers. "Link told me all about what happened to… to our parents." His voice cracked on the last word.

His brother pressed his lips together, lowering his head until his golden bangs fell to cover his eyes.

"Did - did he tell you?" Laik somehow managed to say, even through the tears that gathered in his eyes.

"He did," came the Twili woman's soft reply, and she reached to put a hand on his arm. "I'm so sorry."

Laik swallowed again and averted his eyes. Midna retracted her hand and let it drop to her side, nervously staring at the bed beneath her, at an utter loss of what to do. How could she possibly help them, or comfort them, or do _anything_ for them? She could try to protect them from the sudden onslaught of danger, of course, but could she really do such a thing? She suddenly doubted herself.

Then Link looked at her. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, and saw the unspoken questions piling one atop another within his gaze. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of them. He wanted to know who she was. That much was clear. But not now… not when their grief threatened to consume them. She needed to give them time.

Or so she told herself, anyway. Deep down she knew she only wanted to procrastinate the inevitable. Not that it mattered much anymore - in a time as dire as this, who _cared_ if she was a princess?

"Link?" she started, even as her heart began to pound uncontrollably in her chest.

He never removed his eyes from her face.

"I… have something to tell you. Both of you," she corrected herself, and cast a quick glance at Laik too, only to see that he hadn't looked her way. She took a deep, nervous breath and smoothed out a few wrinkles in her purple dress.

Link's once-soothing, beautiful eyes seemed to pierce into her very soul, and she wanted so desperately to leave and pretend she'd said nothing at all.

But she plowed on anyway.

"I'm a princess," she blurted before she could stop herself.

She saw his eyes widen and his jaw drop. Laik joined in on the surprise too - and, she had to be honest with herself - despite the tense situation, their expressions were so amusing that it took every ounce of willpower she possessed not to crack a smile. "A-anyway," she continued once she'd regained control of herself, "because of - of what I am, I suppose, I can help you. I've already been to plenty royal council meetings and we've discussed what to do about these demons. So far, we've learned that…" But she sealed her lips tight and frowned. The necromancer. Was that all right to tell them? "Um - sorry. I don't know if I can tell you that. The point is, we're trying our best, and we _are_ going to figure something out, all right? I'll help you both any way I can."

Finally she lifted her gaze to meet theirs. They both stared at her, shock in their eyes, and silence followed - until Link broke it, anyway.

He cocked a brow. "I thought you told me you were staying at an inn?"

She lowered her head once more, too ashamed to meet his eyes, fiery hair falling to cover her face. "About that… I really am sorry. I didn't want you to see me any differently."

She dared to cast him a furtive glance, only to see him brushing a hand through his hair and breathing a deep sigh through his nose. "You know… I don't even know how to respond to that."

"Sorry," she offered again.

He shook his head. "It's - it's fine."

"You're not angry at me?" She peered at him from beneath her orange curtain of hair. He tried to smile at her, and just shook his head again.

"No. I have too many other things on my plate to be angry at you."

Midna awkwardly cleared her throat. "Well - sorry again, really. I didn't want to lie. I feel awful about it. I'll make it up to you, I promise, all right?"

To her surprise he actually chuckled. It came out faint and breathy, and she could tell just how exhausted he was. Time to go, she supposed. He and Laik needed to sleep. "All right, then. Thank you, Midna."

She gave a single nod, then stood. "I should probably get going."

Laik finally managed to say something. "So soon?" he sighed.

Her shoulders drooped. "Regrettably. I have a meeting with Princess Zelda and Prince Eldren tonight, and we have some important things to discuss." Like, what lay beyond that odd locked door in the library, for one. But she didn't know how much to tell Link and his brother. She probably shouldn't have even told them about her meetings with the Hyrulian princess and prince.

Oh well.

"So I should be going," she told them. Her eyes softened. "Do you want me to do anything for you?"

The two brothers exchanged a glance, and then Link shook his head. "No. But thank you. I think… we just need a nap." He smiled sheepishly.

"Of course. Get plenty of rest, you two, okay?"

They both nodded in reply. "See you," Laik said, "and hopefully soon." At that, he smirked - even despite the severity of their situation.

She figured it was his way of coping, but for some reason it infuriated her anyway, and she mumbled, "Oh my sweet Golden Goddesses, shut up," as she rolled her eyes and swept out of the infirmary.

Ludin joined her, and escorted her back to her chambers - and never once asked a single question.

* * *

"So… what's behind that door, anyway?" Midna asked, accepting the cup of coffee Salaas handed her. She gave him a look of thanks, and he stepped away to stand silent beside the door.

Eldren stared blankly at the plate of food before him. "Only father knows," he sighed, reaching up to smooth a lock of golden hair back into its place. "We used to know -" Here he cast a glance in his sister's direction, seated in her usual spot in a plush chair across from the other two - "but that changed when mother died."

The Twili pressed her lips together in thought and set her cup of coffee onto the table, trading it for her plate piled with roasted pheasant and buttered carrots. "So neither of you can get in there anymore?" she questioned as she stuffed an entire carrot into her mouth.

Eldren lightly shook his head as he took a taste of his raspberry tea. From what Midna could tell, he never drank any other flavor. "Unfortunately not. We haven't been allowed inside since… you know."

His mother's death. Her gaze flicked between Zelda and her brother, and she breathed a quiet sigh. "Well… that's that, then. I just wondered if what was inside held any importance to us."

"It might," Zelda spoke, hands folded in her lap. She had placed a few items of food on her own porcelain plate and a cup of lavender tea sat in front of her - not her usual rose - but she had not eaten or taken a sip of the drink yet. "Perhaps father _is_ hiding something in there."

Midna's brow cocked of its own accord at the Hylian woman's suspicious tone. Eldren's brows knit together and he frowned. "Zelda! What do you mean, 'hiding something'? This is _father_ we're talking about."

"I know." She lacked her usual piercing gaze, Midna noticed, and she found that she quite missed the fierce thunderclouds within her slate-colored eyes. They had been replaced with a gloomy rain. And she struggled to meet anyone's eyes. Coming from someone as refined as Princess Zelda, it was more than a little unnerving.

Eldren hid his frown behind his cup of tea and averted his eyes. "So, you… suspect him of something, then?"

"I cannot be sure," she admitted, and sighed, lifting her eyes to the ceiling in thought. "I spoke to Lady Ali this morning. She said she knows who the necromancer is."

"What?!" Eldren spluttered, and, unfortunately, he had been taking a drink of his tea. At his surprised exclamation, he spewed it all over the table, and it dribbled down his chin. Immediately his entire face blazed red with embarrassment. "Din," he swore, and not expecting such language from him - nor such a slip of composure - Midna quickly covered her grin with a hand. "Sorry," he grumbled, snatching a napkin from the table and hurrying to wipe off his face and anywhere else the tea had splashed.

Although she could hide her grin behind a hand, she could not disguise the giggle that left her lips.

When Eldren shot the Twili a glare, her tiny giggle turned to loud, unashamed guffaws. A burst of laughter interrupted her whenever she tried to form words of any kind. And, in spite of himself, the prince smiled, though his ears still burned red.

"I'm - I'm sorry, but you should have seen your face -" Midna managed to splutter between bouts of uncontrollable giggles.

Seeing Zelda's utter lack of amusement eventually calmed the Twili princess. The memory of the words she'd just spoken helped, too - _"She knows who the necromancer is."_

Midna regained control of herself and sat up straighter, clearing her throat. "Anyway," she began, "you were saying, Zelda?"

"Lady Ali knows who the necromancer is," she repeated, for the first time taking a tiny bite of her roast pheasant. Any trace of humor Midna felt vanished into the tense air. A silence followed while Eldren and Midna waited anxiously to hear what else she had to say. But when Zelda swallowed her food no further explanation came. She simply took another bite of meat.

"Well?" Midna pressed eagerly. "Who is it? And… uh, who's Lady Ali?"

Eldren cast her a sidelong look. "The woman who spoke up in the council, saying the demons seemed to be the result of necromancy."

Yes. Her. The Twili nodded in understanding.

"As for who the necromancer is - I do not know yet, I'm afraid," Zelda sighed, daintily wiping her lips with a napkin before directing her sad gaze at the two people in front of her. "Lady Ali would not tell me. According to her, the enemy threatened to kill her should she ever reveal his secret."

Eldren leaned forward, interlocking his fingers and resting his elbows on his knees, eyes distant. Midna pressed her lips together and crossed her legs. So they still didn't know who their enemy was - but they were close. _Infuriatingly_ close. She brought up a hand and pressed her fingers to her temple, baring her teeth in annoyance. "We have to find out who it is," she said, stating the obvious.

Zelda looked exhausted. But despite the weight of an entire kingdom hanging across her shoulders, she kept them squared, and would not let her back slouch even in the slightest.

"Why didn't you invite us to come with you?" Eldren asked, sounding just the slightest bit offended.

"I did not wish to alarm her. She is a very skittish woman, after all," Zelda replied. "I feared that if I brought you with me, she would assume the worst."

"You didn't bring _anyone_ with you?" The prince grimaced.

This time Zelda did not speak. She only shook her head.

"You could have gotten hurt!" the prince fussed. "What if she turned out to be the necromancer? She could have - could have hurt you…"

"But I am unharmed, am I not?" She offered him a reassuring smile - one that clearly did not placate him. Still he stared at her with concern flickering in his eyes. Zelda didn't seem to notice. She took the first sip of her tea and shut her eyes as she did so, as if trying to calm herself.

"And -" Eldren stood, and began to pace in front of his chair. "And father? What does he have to do with any of this?" Just as soon as he had started, he stopped his pacing, and turned to his sister, horror taking root and quickly consuming his face. He visibly paled. "You don't think _he's_ -"

"As I said," the Hylian woman interrupted before he could get any further, and her voice cut, uncharacteristically sharp. Eldren almost seemed to reel away from it. "I do not know anything for sure." Again she sipped at her tea. A breath might have caught in her throat, and her chest shuddered a little in distress.

Midna could not say anything. She simply sat there, feeling useless, looking between the princess and her brother, fear bubbling within her that she desperately tried to swallow. The king - a necromancer? It couldn't be, could it? She did not know him, but the idea of her future father-in-law being a necromancer sickened her, to put it mildly. It must have been even more upsetting to Eldren and Zelda.

"I -" Eldren's eyes widened, and he buried his face in his hands. For a while he only stood there, silent. Then without warning he turned and strode out the door, slamming it behind him. Salaas watched him go with both brows raised in surprise.

The Twili woman blinked. Her lips parted, and she searched her mind, reaching _desperately_ for anything she could say to the other princess. But no words came.

So instead she simply stood, and spluttered the first thing she could think of - "I'm sorry" - before she gave a clumsy bow and hurried to follow the prince.

He had already advanced all the way down the long hall, and then he turned and vanished around the corner without a moment's hesitation.

"Wait!" Midna cried, and ran after him, ignoring Salaas shouting the same word behind her. Bare feet thumped hard against the carpeted floor, and she hiked her dress above her ankles so it wouldn't get in her way. Her hair - which she had left loose and not bothered to style in any way - flew wildly about her, whipping into her eyes and mouth, but she ignored it and skidded around the corner. "Eldren!"

Finally - he stopped. She followed suit, slowing to a halt, chest heaving from her short but frantic run. She clawed the hair away from her mouth.

"Midna," he sighed. "Er - I apologize for the abrupt exit." After she caught her breath, she stepped toward him, dress still clutched in her hands, fabric wrinkled around her long fingers. "What is it?"

She released her dress and let it fall just past her ankles again. The sides of it crinkled hopelessly and she didn't bother to try smoothing them. "I…" And she realized she didn't quite have an answer to his question. Why _had_ she chased after him, anyway? "I just wanted to know if you're okay," she finished lamely.

Salaas came up behind her. Eldren cast him a cursory glance, then forced a smile, and brushed a few wisps of unruly golden hair away from his eyes. It was strange to see his hair like that, she thought. It had always been so perfectly maintained before. "…Yes," he replied, but his hesitance made her doubt.

She lifted a brow. "Huh. Really?"

He covered his mouth with a fist and cleared his throat. "I - ah… Midna." He paused for a moment to square his broad shoulders and lace his hands behind his back like he always did when he was nervous and wanted to appear more confident than he felt. "Would you care to walk with me?"

"Why not?" With a faint smile she turned to Salaas. "Head back to my chambers and wait for me there. Eldren will make a suitable escort, thank you."

Her bodyguard narrowed his eyes. Clearly he disliked the idea of leaving the Twili princess alone. She couldn't blame him - she'd wrapped herself up in too many shenanigans to count. But he looked at the prince again, and resigned, trying to give a good-natured shrug. "All right. But if you aren't back within an hour, I will come looking for you. Don't stray too far from the castle."

"Sure, _dad,_ thanks," she called as he brushed past her and walked down the hall.

The prince turned to watch him go, then he returned his eyes to Midna's again. She smiled reassuringly. He offered his arm, and she took it. "I won't lead you too far away, according to your bodyguard's wishes," he pledged, and she laughed.

"Sure. Not like I'm worried about it anyway."

"We won't even leave the castle. After all, what with demons roaming about…" He visibly winced at the words, and began to walk her forward as if to distract himself from the thought. "But they haven't made it inside Castle Town's walls yet. We'll be fine."

"I know."

The rest of their journey passed in relative silence. Muted footfalls were the only things to break the quiet between them. Sometimes Eldren would stare at his boots as he walked instead of the path ahead of him. Eventually Midna noticed his eyes lingering on her feet, and she nudged him with her elbow. "What are you looking at? Do they have dirt on them or something?"

He quickly looked up. "Uh - oh. No, sorry. I was just wondering if you ever wore shoes." He grinned.

"Rarely." She shrugged. "I find them restricting. They just… feel strange."

"Don't your feet get hurt?"

"Yeah." She laughed. "I remember when my nursemaid had to pull a bunch of thorns out of my foot when I was little, because for some stupid reason I decided it was a good idea to walk through a rosebush. There was that time I broke a window -" When he furrowed his brows and sent her a questioning look, she simply said "long story" before continuing - "and anyway, my nursemaid had to pull glass out of my feet. She wasn't very happy about that. Oh! And that time with a porcupine…" She shook her head at the memory.

Eldren stared at her curiously as they walked, and Midna couldn't help noticing as they descended a familiar staircase. They passed the infirmary, its doors shut tight to allow its patients a peaceful sleep. For a moment she forgot all about her story and only watched the doors as they went by.

"Um, got distracted, sorry," she said after quite an awkward pause.

He smiled. "It's fine. We're here, anyway," he informed her as he turned a corner into an uncarpeted hall, walls narrow and ceiling lower than in the other parts of the castle. Cold, unforgiving granite met her bare feet, and being accustomed to the soft warm carpet, she couldn't help frowning at the feeling. At the end of the tiny hall an equally small, unassuming wooden door awaited them, undecorated as opposed to all the other ornate doors in the castle. Eldren stepped ahead and opened the door for her.

"Wow," she breathed, and stepped beyond the confining castle walls into a small shard of paradise.

Before her a little stone path stretched, twirling uneven through a miniature aspen forest like an excited child running free. Castle walls surrounded her, covered in ivy. Moss sprouted on the thin white trunks of the trees and poked between the flat stones of the trail. Flowers of all colors and types nestled between the trees. The next bend hid behind the aspens, but the Twili thought she could hear running water, and without hesitation she took off down the path, beams of moonlight slipping like silver waterfalls through the leaves to bathe her form.

There, at the end of the path, a pretty fountain awaited - carved of dark stone, moss coating its surface, rather small compared to some of the other grand affairs she had seen. A basin sat on the ground, and a short pillar held up the next basin, and stone birds perched atop it, singing, water flowing from their beaks and pooling around their little feet. The entire thing stood no taller than her hips. There were two stone benches on either side of the fountain, surrounded by pink flowers, and she sat upon one, watching the water flow.

It was simple, she thought - simple, but so beautiful, with the trees shivering in the cool night breeze and stars peeking down at her from between their branches. It didn't feel as carefully manicured as the inner ward. She liked that. It felt natural, the way the trees and flowers grew without pattern.

Eldren took a seat beside her and a contented smile spread across his lips. "The castle has many gardens. This one is a little unique, though, and I like it." He bent to look at a purple flower beside his feet. "This time of year is my favorite. It's perfect for flowers to bloom."

She studied his face, how calm he looked, the way his shoulders and back slouched in relaxation. "You like flowers?"

"Yeah…" he admitted hesitantly. "Anyway," he began, as if trying to change the subject - though why he should be embarrassed about liking flowers, she didn't know - "we shouldn't stay here too long. I don't want to worry your bodyguards too much."

"Right." Midna folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes.

"I am sorry for dragging you out here," he sighed, leaning forward to touch one of the streams of water spewing from a stone bird's mouth. "I just - needed to calm myself, I suppose. If - if father…" He trailed off. His jaw clenched and he couldn't continue.

Midna shook her head. "Look, it's fine. I'm sure everything will work out. Don't worry, okay?" She tried to smile at him.

Eldren nodded once. "You're right," he said after a pause, and exhaled deeply.

"I always am," she joked, and he might have chuckled, a little. "So can we enjoy the rest of our time out here without worrying about demons or necromancers?"

"Of course. I - I apologize." He nervously adjusted his hair, straightening his spine and letting his hands drop loose into his lap.

"Stop apologizing. You're okay. Everything will be okay," she assured him again.

And she had the distinct feeling she was entirely, utterly wrong.

* * *

 **A/N: Finally! New chapter! Sorry for how long this one took... I feel like I owe you guys an explanation, even if it's a pathetic one.**

 **Basically, I thought I had this story all planned out. I knew what would happen to Midna and the gang and I had a few twists here and there to keep things (hopefully) interesting. Unfortunately, when I started writing this chapter, I realized my plans were crumbling. They were far too complicated and stupid, and in order for them to make sense, I had to reach really far and pull an explanation for things out of nowhere. Long story short, let's just say I stewed over this chapter for a long time and hated it, before I finally decided to delete it all and completely rethink where I was going with this.**

 **It took a while, needless to say... but I think I finally have the plot worked out. _Mostly._ I cannot make any promises as to when the next chapter will come out, but I'm determined to finish this, so stay tuned! And thank you _so_ much for reading, and for patiently waiting and putting up with me :P As always, reviews and critique are both loved c:**


	8. Attack

Another day, another council meeting. Midna knew her time in Hyrule would be less than pleasant, but _this_ was just torture.

Still - she tried to listen anyway. Yesterday everyone had noticed how apathetic she'd looked, and she didn't want anyone to think she didn't care about Hyrule. She did. Not as much as she _could,_ because she didn't know its people that well yet, but she hoped that would change in time.

And besides - with the stern look Salaas was shooting at her back, she knew he wouldn't be pleased to find her not listening again.

Too late she realized she had tuned out the council.

"…right after this meeting," King Ganondorf said. "Prince Eldren will temporarily assume my position while I'm away."

"What?!" the prince spluttered.

Midna bit her lip, very much regretting not listening to the king.

"But your majesty!" a hawk-nosed man protested. "This is so sudden! We had no forewarning of your departure; how are we to prepare accordingly?"

Ganondorf waved a hand dismissively and leaned back in his seat. "I already said - Prince Eldren will take charge for a little while. Everything is taken care of."

"And your escort?" the hawk-nosed man asked.

"I… have one ready," came the king's vague response.

A dark-eyed woman frowned at him. "Your majesty, with all due respect, we would like to know just who this escort is and for how long you'll be gone." She leaned forward across the table. "This kind of information is vital - especially considering Hyrule's dire state. In fact, it would be best if you postponed your plans altogether, until it's safer for you to leave."

"I cannot postpone them!" Ganondorf growled, baring his teeth. He reached up to rub his forehead, and sighed deeply. "This is important, don't you understand? That's why I need to leave _immediately._ No exceptions."

The woman opened her mouth.

"And as for my escort," Ganondorf interrupted before she could say anything, "don't concern yourself over them. A few… very trusted friends will be accompanying me."

"Who are these friends?" the woman asked.

The king spoke over her in a much louder voice that drowned hers out - "This meeting is dismissed!" He slammed his palms on the table to emphasize his point, making Midna jump a little in her chair. "It will commence again at the prince's command." Then, without another word, he stood, and walked out of the council room, heavy boots ringing loud against the marble floor as he went. He slammed the door behind him.

For a moment the council members could only stare at the door in confusion. Midna was the most confused of them all.

Then the silence broke when everyone turned to Prince Eldren at once and demanded to know what he would do, how he would handle his father's absence, when the next meeting would commence -

"One question at a time, please!" Eldren held his palms in front of him in a pleading gesture, his lips twisting into a grimace.

So the dark-eyed woman spoke up before anyone else could. "When will the council meet again?"

The prince laid his hands on the table and laced them together, heaving a long, deep sigh, and the Twili princess thought she could see his shoulders sag - just a little. "I don't know," was his honest answer. "We don't have much to discuss. It seems everything has already been taken care of. The demons haven't appeared since their first attack, all the people close to Castle Town have been locked safely inside its walls, and messengers have been sent out to warn the outlying villages and towns. What else is there to do?"

"We still don't know who the necromancer is," the hawk-nosed man pointed out.

Eldren sighed. "Does anyone have any information as to who he or she may be?" His eyes swept the council, piercing each and every one of them - but Lady Ali in particular. Midna found herself watching the woman, waiting for her to say anything, but she didn't. She simply kept her gray eyes on the floor and her mouth clamped shut. "No?" The prince shook his head. "Then if not, I see no reason to convene any time soon. We will hold another meeting if any information is brought to light. If that's all?"

Nobody said anything, so Eldren nodded his head once and told everyone to return to their activities. They all got up and began to shuffle out of the room.

The prince stood, and Midna did the same, stopping him with a gentle hand on his arm. "Hey," she whispered.

He smiled at her. "Yes?"

"Uh - sorry, but…" She waited for the last council member to exit the room, leaving only her, her bodyguards, the prince, and the princess, before she continued. "I kinda tuned the king out…" She offered him a sheepish grin. "What did he say about leaving?"

"He's going to check up on the Gerudo. Apparently, since they've been pillaging recently, all the messengers fear them and refused to warn them about the demons, so my father has taken it into his hands to tell them himself."

The Twili woman pressed her lips together. "Really? That's dangerous, isn't it? And he seemed reluctant to mention who his escort was." She cocked a brow. "A bit strange, don't you think?"

"I…" Eldren's eyes slowly drifted away from hers, and he stared down at the floor as if it had suddenly become very fascinating. "I don't know what to think," he finally whispered.

"But Lady Ali does," Zelda interrupted.

Midna's eyes flicked to the other royal's. "She refused to admit who the necromancer was, right?"

"Yes." The Hylian princess lifted her chin a fraction - and Midna couldn't help smiling as she met her eyes. A storm boiled within them, powerful clouds rolling in the gray-blue sky of her eyes. No longer did gloomy rain dampen them. It was nice to see the princess back to her former self, Midna thought. "I intend to speak to her again today."

"You'll allow me to come, of course," Eldren said, squaring his shoulders.

"Of course _not,"_ Zelda told him with the slightest frown. "You'll scare her."

"What?" The prince looked offended. In order to hide the hurt in his eyes, he looked down and fixed a few nonexistent wrinkles in his white shirt, and straightened his blue, gold-trimmed coat over the top of it, though it already hung perfectly straight. "I'm not intimidating. I won't scare her."

Zelda's lips curved into a smile - a strange smile the Twili woman had never seen on her face before. It looked almost like a smirk. _Almost._ Not quite. "You're absolutely terrifying," she told her brother, and with that odd smile widening, she turned and left the council room without another word.

Eldren and Midna stood speechless in her wake. The Twili had always seen the other princess as a sort of no-nonsense person, and had never heard her even attempt to crack a joke before. The sudden jest left her surprised and utterly confused. She blinked at the door, and shut her mouth, which she only barely realized had been hanging agape.

Then Eldren turned to her, thick golden brows knit together in concern. "Am I terrifying?"

Midna couldn't help it. She burst into laughter. His brows furrowed even more, if that was possible, and a shadow of concern flitted through his eyes. "What?" he asked, almost desperately.

"Oh, Nayru," the Twili somehow managed between giggles. She patted his arm. "You couldn't be terrifying even if you _wanted_ to!" And then she was laughing again, and couldn't stop, tears gathering in her eyes.

Eldren frowned and tugged absently at the long sleeves of his coat. "Thanks… I suppose."

Midna finally regained control of herself and wiped at her eyes. She didn't know why she had found the entire thing so amusing. "You're welcome," she said with a grin.

"Your highness," Salaas interrupted from behind her. "If we're done here, then…"

The Twili woman sighed. "Yeah, we are." She glanced to her bodyguard, then returned her gaze to Eldren, giving him a wide smile. "See you later?"

"At lunch, if you don't mind," he replied.

"Sure."

He smiled. "Since Zelda didn't ask us to meet with her again, I'm going to assume it'll be just the two of us. Would you like to eat… outside, perhaps, in one of the gardens?"

Midna's eyes brightened in excitement. "That'd be great! The same one we went to last night?" He nodded, and she laughed. "Good! See you at lunch!" Then she swept out of the marble room, Ludin and Salaas in tow.

* * *

Midna sat, legs crossed, on a stone bench before the little bird fountain, and tore off a chunk of sweet roll with her teeth. A pleasant silence stretched between her and the prince. Rays of sun streamed through the leaves of trees to dapple the ground in shifting spots of light. The sweet songs of birds danced through the air, and as she swallowed her food a small smile came to Midna's lips.

"This is my favorite garden so far," she said as she set her sweet roll down on the plate and used her fork to tear off a sizable chunk of roast beef. "Do you have any others?" She stuffed the meat into her mouth.

Eldren watched the dainty little streams of water spewing from the stone birds' mouths. "We have the outer ward, the inner ward, and then three gardens. This one is the second largest," he explained. "I can show you the others sometime if you'd like."

"Yeah, I'd like that."

The prince selected a small bite of roast beef and ate it much more delicately than she did. She almost wanted to laugh, watching him - they were such opposites, and yet she found it surprisingly easy to get along with him.

Eldren's gaze flicked to hers. He blinked. "Is something wrong?"

Midna grinned. "I was just thinking about how superior your manners are to mine."

He laughed. "Yes… I've noticed that, too," he replied with the tiniest hint of what might have been a smirk on his face, then he looked away again and took another small bite of meat.

"Hey!" Midna huffed. "Are you calling me a slob?"

"I don't know if I'd use the word _slob,_ but…"

"Yeah, okay, I get it," the Twili grumbled, stuffing the entire rest of the sweet roll in her mouth and chewing noisily, mouth open, jokingly emphasizing his point. She almost choked on her food with laughter when the prince's nose wrinkled in disgust and he turned his head away. "S-sorry," she managed around her gigantic bite of food, hiding her smiling mouth with a hand.

He chuckled and shook his head.

A familiar voice interrupted them. "Midna?"

The Twili's eyes widened. That voice. Smooth, and gentle, and low, like the breeze through long green grasses - she couldn't possibly mistake it. But she doubted herself anyway. She turned her head, looking over her shoulder - only to see Link standing there a few feet behind her.

Eldren's head turned as well. Midna could only stare, words escaping her, and she swallowed.

 _Well. This just got awkward._

"You're… Prince Eldren, right?" Link asked, a hesitant smile lifting his lips. When the prince nodded, the other man bowed his head. "Your highness. I'm so sorry for intruding."

"You know Midna?" Eldren inquired.

The Twili princess swallowed again, and hid her suddenly-sweating hands within the folds of her black dress. What should she say? She almost wanted to lie - but she had nothing to hide, did she? She and Link had only ridden horses around a few times, and she'd purchased strawberries from him. That was it. She readily admitted to herself that she had a tiny bit of a crush on the farm-boy, but she didn't need to tell _that_ to Eldren. So she opened her mouth to explain to the prince - but Link spoke before she did.

"She bought strawberries from me, that's all," he replied, nervously running a hand through his messy golden hair and shifting his weight. "I'm so sorry for interrupting. I just needed to get out of the infirmary for a bit of fresh air, but if I would have realized there was someone here…"

"It's fine," Eldren said with a smile. "The infirmary… were you attacked by the demons, then?"

Midna could see Link's jaw clench. His eyes dulled - no doubt remembering his dead parents. She wanted to hug him, but she didn't. She _couldn't._ She looked away as he responded, "…Yes."

"Ah. I'm so sorry," the prince offered.

Link tried to shrug nonchalantly.

Suddenly -

A figure stepped from between the trees and onto the little stone path. Noonday sunlight poured onto the form of a tall, well-muscled man, illuminating his broad shoulders and thick neck, and the strong legs that carried him confidently toward them.

Midna's eyes shot wide open. Her heart skipped a beat. Beside her she heard Eldren inhale sharply.

Her lilac lips parted. Her throat constricted. But somehow - _somehow,_ thank the Goddesses, she found the voice to scream - _"Link!_ Behind you!"

The Hylian's brows furrowed for a split second before he cast a frantic glance over his shoulder, golden hair whipping about his face at the sudden movement.

A hand webbed with inky black shot out to grasp his neck. Link shouted in fear and barely managed to roll out of the way, grunting in pain as he did so. With a pang of panic Midna remembered his broken ribs. And she saw the man - no, the _demon -_ turn his terrible yellow eyes to his prey, pulling his white lips into a snarl, black markings wrinkling around his mouth as he did so.

Without another moment's hesitation the Twili leaped to her feet. The plate of food that had been sitting on her knees crashed to the stones beneath her, shattering into dozens of tiny pieces, the food on its surface scattering all over the ground.

"The demons! They're in the castle!" Eldren shouted needlessly after quite a long pause in which he had done absolutely nothing. Not that he could; he possessed no weapon to fight with.

"I _noticed_ that!" Midna growled, stretching her palms out before her, and bringing her hands together all in one swift movement. A liquid shield rippled before Link's fallen form, and when she showed her palms once more, it solidified. The Hylian pushed himself onto trembling arms, eyes wide, dark fear swallowing their brilliant blue.

With a hiss the demon-man kicked the shield, only to find it unbreakable. Sweat beaded on Midna's forehead at the exertion of keeping up the shield. "Link," she tried, but could say no more.

He understood. He scrambled to his feet, breaths ragged, chest heaving, and pressed himself to the trunk of a birch tree behind him. Again the demon kicked the shield. This time it bent a little beneath the attack.

Without another second of hesitation the Hylian sprinted back the way he had come, following the stone path to the door that led into the castle. Not a second later the shield crashed down to the ground, and seeped into the dirt like water.

The demon whirled to face her, anger boiling in his awful eyes. Midna gulped and stumbled back. A shard of glass caught her bare foot, and she yelped rather disgracefully as it lodged deep into her skin.

The demon stepped toward her. He stretched his large hand to the Twili princess, thick fingers reaching for her neck. Her heart beat wildly against its cage and she could think of nothing to do. Creating the shield had exhausted her, and the only magic she had left to defend herself with - her hand-hair.

But she needed to tie her hair up in order to focus her magic. She had nothing to do that with.

So she could only stand there, helpless, before the cruel face of the monster, as it advanced.

His hand reached. Three inches. Two. _One._ Midna begged her legs to move, to run, _run,_ Farore please, but they wouldn't listen -

Suddenly Eldren crashed into her, knocking her to the ground. She cried out in surprise and pain as her body collided with the hard stones, scraping her cheek and bruising her all over. Quickly her crimson eyes flicked up, only to see the prince atop her - and the demon's leg flying right toward him.

The beast's foot slammed hard into the prince's side, sending him sprawling. With a gasp of pain he rolled the short distance to the bird fountain, crashing stomach-first into its side. He crumpled in pain inside the bottom basin. Water soaked his clothes. Midna scrambled to her feet just as the demon threatened to send her to the same fate, and she dodged his kick, shouting, "Eldren!"

He pushed himself up with shaking arms, water dripping from his face and his once-spotless gold-trimmed coat. The man-demon only stood there for a moment, trying to decide which of the royals he should attack.

Taking advantage of this, Midna rushed to the prince's side, grasping his arm and hauling him to his feet, gritting her teeth in exertion as she did so. He was _heavy._ Eldren stumbled beside her, and nearly fell, but he landed on her shoulder and she kept him upright. "Let's go!" she hissed, curling her fingers tight around his thickly-muscled arm and dragging him out of the courtyard.

The monster turned and watched them leave. He made no attempt to follow.

The Twili kicked open the wooden door that led back into the castle. The hallway before them remained empty, thank the Goddesses - but she could hear screams further into the structure. Eldren grimaced. "Th…thanks," he managed to say, then straightened himself, and winced a little. "I can walk on my own."

"I don't care if you can _walk_ on your own." Midna leveled him an intense stare. "Can you _run?"_

He took a deep, shuddering breath. Locks of ragged hair draped across his sweaty forehead. He didn't bother to brush them away. "Yes. I can."

"Then let's find Zelda and see if she's all right!" she told him. And without another word she ran.

The prince followed. The two royals sprinted down the little hall, soon emerging into a larger one. Three servant women rushed past them, screaming and casting frantic glances over their shoulders. Further down the marble corridor a demon turned from around a corner, and began to pursue them. Midna bared her teeth at the beast. "Go, go!" she shouted to Eldren, who had stopped to watch. He ran. She followed. They rushed past the infirmary, and down the hall to the right Midna thought she saw Link and his brother disappear around a corner. "And find something to tie my hair up while you're at it, will you?"

"What? This isn't the time to be worrying about your hair!" he yelled in reply, turning and dashing up the set of stairs before the infirmary.

"For Din's sake, you idiot!" she called after him as she slowed to a stop. "Just find me something, got it?" She didn't wait for any sort of reply from him before she turned in the opposite direction and hurried to follow Link. From her peripheral vision she saw the demon walking toward her. She quickened her pace, feet thudding against the carpet, each step driving the glass she had stepped on further into her foot. She ground her teeth together and tried to ignore the pain.

On second thought, she should have asked the prince where to find the armory. Link would need a weapon, after all. She wondered if she could find it on her own.

A door crashed open near her.

It slammed against the wall, and weakly swung back and forth, creaking. Midna gasped in surprise and stumbled. From behind the door a demon stepped out - a tall man, tall enough to tower over her, thin and bony and terrible. His pale hand shot out -

\- and grabbed her slender neck.

The Twili woman could not even find the breath to scream. She could only claw helplessly at her enemy's hands, but like cold stone they curled, immovable, around her throat.

No, _no…_

He lifted her at least a foot off the ground, pressing her against the wall as she fought him in vain. She could feel the life slipping away from her. Blackness shrouded her vision. Only a pinpoint of yellow light told her the demon's soulless eyes still pierced her.

Then - _then,_ thank the Golden Goddesses - a flash of red light collided with the demon's side, and he stumbled away, releasing his hold on his victim's neck. Midna collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, clutching desperately at her neck, sunset eyes wide with horror.

Her panicked gaze shot to her rescuer. "Salaas!" she cried, as her bodyguard sprinted down the hallway. Rage consumed his face in a way she had never before seen. His golden eyes _roared,_ and the sight of them sent her heart beating in fear. His blue hands flicked, swift as a snake's tongue, toward the beast. The thin demon narrowed his pale eyes at the Twili man before him. He started to reach to wrap both his hands around his neck - but Salaas stopped him. His hands clamped down on the monster's bony arms, and red light streamed from between his fingers. It swiftly crawled with insectile legs up the demon's arms. Even from where she sat leaning against the wall, Midna could feel the pure, blistering heat radiating from the red light - and the demon screamed.

She heaved a shuddering sigh of relief as its yellow eyes rolled back in its head, and it wailed, _wailed_ like a wounded animal, and the sound echoed through the marble halls. Midna clamped her hands over her ears. It did nothing to drown out the terrible noise.

The monster thrashed. Still Salaas held tight. The red light spread fast, glowing tendrils crawling up to the demon's neck, and in an ironic twist, they began to choke him just as he had tried to choke the Twili princess.

The beast's screams only grew louder. Midna gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut - how could Salaas possibly stand that wailing? - and finally the enemy weakened. His tense shoulders dropped and his head lolled to the side. It had all happened in a matter of seconds.

In his final moments the demon attempted one last time to flail. His knee slammed into the Twili man's abdomen, and he couldn't help but let go, mouth dropping open in a vain attempt to gasp as he collapsed onto his back with the breath knocked out of him.

The monster stood on shaking legs as the red magic faded from his body. In its wake ash smoldered, and there was only black where pale skin had once been. The beast bared his teeth. He tried to take a step toward his fallen foe, but before he could even advance by an inch, his knees wobbled and gave out beneath him. With widened eyes the monster fell, face-first, into the carpet, missing Salaas by an inch - and there he stayed, unmoving.

Midna got to her feet, leaning against the wall for aid as she gingerly prodded her already-bruising neck. Breath still came in short, desperate gasps, and sometimes it didn't come at all. Her legs shook but she ignored them and stood anyway. Salaas couldn't move; he could only lie on the floor, trying to catch his breath.

Finally the Twili man gasped. His breath rushed into his lungs all at once. He turned to his side and pushed himself to his feet, chest heaving.

"Mi…Midna," he managed.

Even despite the situation - even despite her racing heart, and the demon's corpse lying there on the carpet - "What? No 'your highness'?" she teased, a tired, relieved smile spreading across her lips.

Salaas smiled in return.

Another demon rounded the corner.

"Din!" Midna cursed. She grasped her bodyguard's arm, and together they turned and ran for their lives.

Only to crash into someone.

The Twili princess panicked. Her heart fluttered and she stumbled back, eyes flitting to meet whatever terrible fate she had run right into - but her red gaze met blue instead of the burning yellow she had expected. Her lips parted in surprise and any words she wanted to say slipped away from her.

Thankfully Link managed to say something for her. "Midna," he breathed, a tiny smile on his lips. Her eyes went to his hand, only to see it resting upon the hilt of a sword. Her shoulders drooped and she sighed in relief.

"You found a weapon…"

He looked over her shoulder and his lips twisted into a grimace. "There's one behind you," he stated.

"I know. We have to run!"

"They can only walk," the young Hylian man told her. "Obviously it's not a good idea to push our luck, but they're slow. We'll be fine as long as we keep moving. Come on." With that he turned and strode away, his brother Laik in tow.

"Wait!" the Twili woman called. "What about Zelda? Where's she? And what will we do about the rest of the nobles and castle staff?"

Link stopped. For a moment he only stood there, back facing her, hand still resting on the sword's hilt - then he sighed and turned toward her. "I don't know."

"We need to find Zelda," Midna insisted.

The golden-haired Hylian tried to smile. "I know. All right, take us to where you think she might be," he said, motioning for her to go ahead.

Midna nodded and turned around. The demon strode, determined, toward them - and she huffed at the sight of him. "Salaas," and she didn't have to say any more. Her bodyguard stretched out his hand - and from his palm erupted a beam of red light, spewing toward the enemy like liquid fire. The beast was not swift enough to dodge. The scorching light crashed into his stomach, sending him stumbling back, arms pinwheeling in an attempt to keep his balance. "Hurry!" Midna rushed past him while he still flailed about in an attempt to stay standing, and the others followed.

"Are your ribs all right?" Midna asked as she exited the hall and went up the stairs in front of the infirmary.

"Yes."

"And my head's fine too," Laik said with a shrug.

Midna shot him a pointed look over her shoulder. He gave her an unrepentant grin, but thankfully said nothing more. She saw a sword belted to his hip as well.

"Where's Ludin?" Midna asked her bodyguard.

The Twili man frowned and focused on the hallway before him. "Missing… I lost him in the chaos. As soon as I realized demons were invading the castle, I came for you as fast as I could."

The princess clenched her hands into fists within her black dress, crinkling the fabric. "He's okay though?" She couldn't hide the tremor in her voice. She hadn't known Ludin too well, and yes, he unnerved her more often than not - but she still found herself caring for him and couldn't stand the idea that he might be dead.

"I don't know," Salaas murmured.

Midna swallowed. "We'll find him," she said, even though she wasn't sure of her own words.

Suddenly three people sprinted down the hall in front of them, skidding to a stop just before they crashed into the others, and the Twili woman breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of them. There stood Eldren and Zelda, and behind them, Lady Ali.

The prince thrust his hand toward her. "Here," he said breathlessly. From between his index finger and thumb a long, thin, white cotton ribbon dangled.

Midna laughed. She couldn't help it. "You actually got me something to tie my hair up!" She reached for it and snatched it from between his fingers. "Thanks," she said as she quickly brushed her hair back with her fingers and twirled the ribbon around the fiery strands, tying them off in a simple knot.

Eldren only stared at her with both brows raised in confusion. Clearly, he thought this was merely an aesthetic thing. She smirked at the idea of surprising him.

His eyes widened. "Demon!" he shouted, pointing behind her.

Perfect.

Midna spun to face the enemy, newly-tied up hair whipping about her face at the movement. The enemy stepped up the stairs and into the hall, eyes blazing, stomach scorched a little from where Salaas had burned him. With her smirk splitting into a grin, she focused her power - and her hair shot out in front of her, thick sinewy tendrils twirling around one another and combining to form one gigantic hand. Large orange fingers curled around the monster's thin form. Even _he_ seemed surprised, she thought with an inward chuckle as his eyes widened.

Then she flung him around like a child shaking a toy. Against the castle walls she smashed his head, and the marble cracked beneath the onslaught. Stone dust plumed from the walls and fragments of marble crumbled to the floor. The demon screamed for a moment - and then silenced.

Midna uncurled the fingers of her hand-hair. The monster dropped, lifeless, to the floor, the top of his head bashed in, neck twisted at an unnatural angle, black blood seeping into the red carpet. The sight made her stomach clench. Bile rose in her throat. Where she had been eager to show off her magic only moments ago, now she only felt utterly _sick._ She had never killed before.

 _It's only a demon,_ she told herself. _It needed to die._

But though she could swallow the bile, she could not stop her stomach from twisting into a knot within her. She let her hair fall to a normal ponytail on her head.

"Sweet Farore," Eldren whispered behind her.

She turned to him, and forced a smile onto her lips. "That's what I wanted the hair-tie for. Oh, and… sorry about the wall."

"That's…" His eyes froze on the corpse of the demon and he could not move them. Behind him, Zelda's lips pressed into a line, and she squeezed her eyes shut, clasping her hands in front of her. Lady Ali trembled, jaw agape. Midna looked over her shoulder to see Link and Laik staring, equally as surprised, at the fallen monster. Salaas seemed unfazed. A moment of silence passed between them all.

Taking advantage of the temporary peace, Midna asked, "What should we do about the others in the castle?" Though - by now, she feared it was too late. The screams of the castle's other inhabitants had silenced, at least as far as she could hear.

Princess Zelda managed to speak up. "We'll tend to them as soon as possible. We passed a single demon on our way here. How many have you seen?"

Salaas answered. "Three. I killed two. Princess Midna killed the third… as you all saw."

"What about that tall, broad-shouldered one?" Link asked, eyes narrowed in thought. "Last I saw, it was still in that garden."

Salaas shook his head. "All the ones I saw seemed fairly thin."

Eldren grimaced. "There are at _least_ two demons still roaming about the castle, then," he sighed, shifting his weight to one foot. "Based on the lack of chaos around us, I'd hope the remaining two are all that's left."

Then - a cloaked figure swept around the corner behind Eldren, long black robes trailing along the floor, swishing about his legs as he approached. Midna couldn't help grinning when she saw him. "Ludin!" she called, brushing past the prince to meet him. "Where were you?"

"Slaying a demon," he responded as casually as if he were talking about the weather.

The Twili princess shook her head. "Nayru, Ludin, you had us all worried. Anyway, so - does that mean there's only one demon left? That big one we saw in the garden?"

"I hope so," Eldren grumbled.

"We need to search for it," Zelda spoke up. "We cannot allow anyone to get hurt, if we can help it. This chaos must stop."

"How did they get in the castle?" the prince sighed, shoulders drooping. He adjusted the sleeves of his coat - which were still wet from being kicked into the fountain.

Both Zelda and Midna's eyes turned to Lady Ali. The timid woman gulped and quickly looked down at the floor, avoiding their piercing gazes. She said nothing.

"Lady Ali," the Hylian princess began. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly and she never blinked once as she stared at the woman. "Do you know how these monsters invaded the castle? And how many there are?"

The woman squeezed her eyes shut. Her hands shook, and she brought them up to cover her face. "I… I can't -"

"These are _dire_ times." Zelda lifted her chin and pressed her lips into a grim line. A storm rolled and thundered in her eyes. "It is urgent that we know who the necromancer is, how many demons there are, and how to stop them - if you can tell us that bit of information as well."

Silence draped the air. Not a soul broke it; they only waited for the poor, trembling woman to speak.

She didn't.

So Zelda continued, "We will not hurt you. We will _protect_ you. Do not fear the necromancer."

Lady Ali gulped. She shook her head, and her shoulders heaved with quiet sobs. Zelda did not apologize. Instead she laid a hand on the other woman's arm, and simply waited for a response.

Finally - "Five," the lady responded. "There are five demons."

Immediately everyone looked at each other, and Eldren began pointing at people, his lips silently counting how many demons had died. His brow furrowed and he counted again. "You killed two, didn't you?" he asked Salaas. The bodyguard nodded. The prince's gaze flicked to the corpse of the one Midna had slain, and she saw his jaw tighten. "That's three," he mumbled, then turned to Ludin. "You killed one?"

Ludin nodded.

"Four," Eldren concluded.

"How many are in Castle Town?" Zelda inquired.

"None… they're just in the castle itself," Lady Ali murmured, dropping her gaze.

"That should leave the broad-shouldered one we first saw," Link spoke up.

As if on cue, the aforementioned broad-shouldered monster stepped up the stairs and came walking toward the group with the confidence of a creature who knew he could take them all at once. Midna turned to him with a deep grimace etched onto her face. Her hair twitched, ready to reach out and grab him if she needed to - although, seeing the other demon's corpse lying on the ground, head mutilated, made her hesitate.

Link and Laik drew their swords. Eldren, Zelda, and Lady Ali took a step or two back, eyes wide, since they still didn't have any weapons. Ludin only stood there and watched.

Before anyone could do anything, Salaas extended a hand and blasted the beast with a beam of fiery red light.

The monster didn't seem to notice. He kept walking, pushing against the red magic as if it were a gentle breeze.

The bodyguard's eyes widened. He stretched his other hand forward, and his palm spewed forth a second beam of magic. His brows lowered in concentration and a bead of sweat appeared on his temple.

Still the demon seemed unfazed.

"Salaas! It isn't working!" the Twili princess cried.

He let his hands drop to his sides, and he heaved a deep sigh, chest rising and falling a little faster than it should have been. A few drops of sweat rolled down his forehead and dripped off his nose. The demon's body was slightly charred but he seemed not to notice. "What else can we do?" Salaas snarled, wiping the sweat from his face and then lifting his hands as if to try again.

"No, don't!" Midna commanded. Instead she turned to the monster, and extended her hair into a hand again. Orange fingers lunged forward and grasped the demon, curling tight around his torso.

He squirmed in the Twili woman's grip, and her eyes slowly widened when she realized the extent of his strength. His struggling made her tremble. Sweat gathered and rolled down her forehead and her temples, but still she held tight to him, and tried to lift him up.

It didn't work. The monster struggled, harder and harder, and Midna's jaw dropped when he broke free from her grip and shoved her gigantic hand-hair away as easily as if he were batting at a fly.

The Twili woman collapsed to the ground on her knees. Her hair retreated to its normal position. Her throat went dry and she could only stare, panting like a dog, as still - _still_ the beast advanced.

Only six feet now - five - four -

Gritting his teeth, Link lunged forward, his sword swiping toward the monster's charred body. The blade barely brushed against his abdomen - but surprisingly enough, a chunk of blackened flesh came loose and fell to the carpet.

The beast roared in pain. His hand, webbed with the inky black markings of necromancy, crashed into the Hylian's injured side. Link cried out in pain as he flew across the hallway and collided with the marble wall, then sank to the floor with a groan.

Laik shook. With eyes wide as dinner plates he scrambled backwards away from the demon.

"Link!" Midna cried, and tried to stumble to her feet, heart racing uncontrollably. She only tripped on shaking legs and fell to her hands and knees again. But still she tried, tried to stand and _run_ to him because Farore help him, the demon's eyes burned with rage and he turned toward the fallen Hylian -

Eldren's hands shot out and grasped her arms. He pulled her back against his broad chest. "Don't," he whispered, voice trembling. "Don't hurt yourself."

"No!" Midna struggled against his grip, but he was too strong. "Let me go!" she begged, and tears gathered in her eyes as she saw the terrible pale monster of a man stop beside Link. The golden-haired Hylian looked up at his foe with terror consuming his face. He tried to stand and failed. Midna's lip quivered. "Let me go, _let me go -"_

Just then Salaas extended both his hands again - and no matter how much his arms trembled, he sent two blasts of fiery magic at the beast.

The monster's yellow eyes turned to his attacker. His lips curved into an ugly grimace.

Somehow - _somehow,_ thank the Goddesses - Link pushed himself to his knees and drove his sword straight through the shafts of red light and into the demon's chest.

The monster wailed then, voice deep and echoing, and with wide eyes he stumbled back, thick hands reaching for the blade embedded in his torso. Then - he gasped, one last time, and collapsed to the carpet with a muted _thud._

Link stood on unreliable legs, grasping at the wall behind him for support. His breath hitched and he shut his eyes in obvious pain.

Finally Eldren let the Twili princess go. She rushed to the Hylian's side even though her foot _burned_ with that terrible shard of glass still embedded within it, and she grasped his arms. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Are your ribs broken all over again?"

At that last part - Link actually laughed. He immediately regretted it, clutching at his side and wincing. A hiss of pain escaped his clenched teeth. "Din… you're going to be okay, Link, I swear," Midna murmured.

"I'm fine," he promised her with a shaky breath. He forced a smile onto his face.

"So… we're done then?" Eldren asked, taking a step towards the monster's burnt corpse and prodding its side with his boot, as if checking to see if it was really dead. He cast a glance over his shoulder to look at Lady Ali.

She nodded reluctantly, face still red from crying. "Five… five are dead. They're gone."

Midna's eyes flicked to Eldren's. Her lip curled and she surprised herself with the amount of anger bubbling up within her, twisting and clenching her heart. _"You,"_ she spat. The prince blinked in surprise at the venom in her tone. "You would have let him _die!_ If - if it weren't for Salaas -"

He shook his head and held up his hands in an attempt to placate her. "I'm sorry!" he tried. "I would have rushed in to help him, but - I don't have any weapons!"

The Twili woman's eyes blazed with unquenchable fire, and her grip on Link's arms tightened. Eldren visibly cringed.

"Midna," Link muttered, exhausted, shakily brushing his unruly bangs away from his eyes, "I'm fine. Really. Don't worry about me so much." He pushed away from her. She stared at him, and her lips parted, words gathering on her tongue that she could not seem to speak. She reached to him but he had already stepped away.

Link stopped beside the demon's unmoving body, and studied the sword lodged in his heart. The blade burned a bright red color, and its once-straight form bent into a shape that no good sword should have possessed. The Hylian gave a little nervous laugh and turned to Salaas. "That's some pretty amazing magic you have."

Salaas actually tried to smile in reply.

But Midna wasn't finished with her tirade. Anger still clawed at her insides and threatened to overtake her. She let it. "And - and you," she snarled, glaring at Laik and Ludin. "You did nothing! You killed a demon all on your own -" She pointed to Ludin with an accusing finger - "so you should have been able to help Link!"

The pale Twili man seemed unfazed by the entire situation. He kept his hands tucked into his large black sleeves and only stared with those blank orange eyes of his. "Slaying the other demon sapped all my energy. I had none to spare."

Midna ignored him. She whirled to face Laik, teeth bared. "I can't _believe_ you! He's your _brother,_ you should have done something to protect him, you petty coward!"

Laik flinched and quickly averted his eyes to hide the guilt within them.

Zelda's shoulders drooped for the first time since Midna had met her - though, only a little. She breathed a tired sigh through her nose. "That is quite enough," she commanded, voice quiet but imposing and strong, and it left no room for argument. "I feel a few explanations are in order." Her stormy eyes swept the group gathered in the hall. "And some introductions, perhaps. First, however, we should head to the infirmary and check for survivors there, as well as tend to those of us who are injured."

Midna's lips pressed into a line. Zelda stepped past her and headed down the stairs, and the rest of the group followed.

Eldren came up beside the Twili woman. She looked at him and frowned. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, and stared down at his boots as he walked. "I just… wanted to protect you."

She heaved a great sigh and shook her head. "I know. I'm sorry for shouting at you."

They walked in silence for a while - until she noticed Eldren looking at her hair. She met his eyes and lifted a brow. "What are you looking at?"

He shrugged, lacing his hands behind his back as he walked. "You know, for future reference - if you ever can't find a hair tie, can't you just pull your hair up with your hands and hold it there? Would it work that way?"

Midna gave him a blank stare. A blush of embarrassment dusted her cheeks, and she quickly ducked her head to hide the fact. In her frenzy, she hadn't even _thought_ of that idea. "Yeah… it'd work," she grumbled reluctantly.

Eldren grinned.


	9. The Necromancer

"Ow! Ow, stop, that _hurts!"_

The head physician ignored Midna's cries and finished the small incision in her foot. He pulled the shard of glass from her skin with a pair of tweezers. She curled her fingers into fists, wrinkling the bedsheets beneath her, and gritted her teeth. She squeezed her eyes shut as he peered at the little blood-covered fragment.

"Stop cringing, it's not even in your foot anymore," the man sighed as he set the shard onto a little wooden plate beside him.

"…Oh." Midna's eyes fluttered open again, and she had the decency to give him a sheepish smile.

"Now don't flinch, please. I need to apply medicine to your foot and bandage it." He washed her injury before he grasped a vial of red liquid and poured its contents onto a thick cloth. He said nothing as he dabbed the substance onto her wound. Early evening sunlight poured through the windows and shone upon his work. Other patients lay scattered across the infirmary's beds, chairs, or some even sat on the floor, all of them mostly silent and grim.

As he began to wrap her foot with bandages, Midna found her gaze wandering across the room. On a bed to her left, Eldren sat, and past him, Link. They downed large bottles of the same red substance that the head physician had applied to her injury. Apparently they'd both suffered broken ribs from the recent attack. She grimaced at the thought.

When the physician left, Link stood and made his way over to her. "May I sit?" he asked, motioning to her bed. She nodded once, so he sat at her side, the bed creaking beneath his weight. For a moment neither of them spoke. She could see Link studying the bruises on her neck and the scrape on her cheek.

"Are you all right?" he asked, reaching as if to touch her neck - but his hand stopped midair, and hovered there for a second or two before dropping to his side again.

"Me? Are _you_ all right?"

"Of course." He was quick to direct attention away from himself. "How did you get those?"

Midna smiled, a little. "Well, the one on my cheek - Eldren pushed me out of the way of one of the demons. We landed hard on that stone path out in the garden and it scraped my cheek a bit. As for the bruises on my neck…" She hesitated, averting her eyes, and gingerly touched the tender skin around her throat. The memory still made her shudder. "One of the demons tried to strangle me. Salaas saved me."

"Salaas?"

She pointed to a wall nearby, where both her bodyguards stood watch, silent sentinels, casting long shadows across the floor. "He's Salaas, and that's Ludin… my bodyguards."

Link pursed his lips in thought. "Right… Midna. Uh - well, I mean… your highness? I don't know." He reached to fidget nervously with an earring and refused to meet her gaze. "That just sounds so wrong."

"Yeah, it does." Midna wrinkled her nose. "Don't call me your highness. I like my name, thanks."

He offered her a tiny smile. "Midna it is, then. But - speaking of demons, do you know _why_ they're here? Where they suddenly came from?"

He deserved to know, so she told him - "A necromancer brought them to life, from what I know. We don't know who that necromancer is yet though."

She saw the muscles in his jaw tighten. He did not reply. Darkness tainted his once-beautiful eyes, and she hated the sight of it. In an attempt to distract him, she quickly declared, "I think it's time for introductions! I mean, you don't really know anyone here, and they don't know you, and… um, so…"

Link stared at her. She tried to ignore him and motioned to Salaas and Ludin. "Come over here!" she told them, then looked at Eldren and said, "You and Zelda too."

Zelda had been hovering over her brother, checking to make sure he was all right, but she looked up at Midna's voice. Hurriedly she ducked her head and whispered something to the prince - probably asking if he felt well enough to bother with the Twili woman's command - before she nodded and straightened again, then Eldren turned to face Midna and smiled. Zelda took a seat beside him on the bed. Soon almost the whole group had gathered around her - and when Laik noticed the commotion, he rushed to join. "Am I missing anything?" he asked.

Instead of answering him, Midna cleared her throat and said, "So, what with the insanity we've all just been through, I figured it might be nice to introduce everyone to each other."

Laik took a seat next to his brother. Midna smiled. "Everyone knows me already, so we'll start with you," and she pointed to Laik.

He grinned. "I'm Laik. I'm pretty much flawless, just so you all know."

Midna narrowed her eyes at him. In truth, she still hadn't quite forgiven him for not helping his brother when he'd needed it most. "Oh yeah, _so_ flawless. Like when your brother was lying on the ground with a demon hovering over him, ready to kill him, and you just backed away like a spineless idiot? That was _really_ amazing of you."

Laik's gray eyes dropped, and his hair fell to cover his face. "W-well, I -"

Before he could say anything, Midna directed her gaze to Link, and smiled at him. "Your turn."

He frowned a little. "I'm Link," was all he said before looking away.

Where had all his cheer gone to? Understandably, he'd been through a lot, and her heart clenched at the thought - but she so dearly missed the way he had been when she'd first met him. If only she could make him smile again. A _genuine_ smile. The gears started turning in her head as she thought of ways to do just that.

But for now, she continued with the introductions. Her gaze flicked to the prince's, and he stared at her blankly for a moment, unsure of what she wanted, before it finally seemed to register in his head - "Oh. I'm Prince Eldren. But, just Eldren is fine…"

The Hylian princess sat straight and poised, a gentle smile on her rose lips, and her words flowed as easily and as musical as a river. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances, Laik and Link. I am Zelda, princess of Hyrule. However, you may call me Zelda if you so please. I must thank you, Link, for so valiantly fighting off the monster."

Link flushed a bit. "I didn't do anything, really."

Then they lapsed into silence. Only Midna's glare made her bodyguards speak -

"Salaas."

"Ludin."

\- but their names overlapped, and were spoken so quietly that she almost didn't hear them at all.

Midna sighed. "At least that's out of the way," she grumbled to herself.

Zelda stood. "If you'll excuse me - I apologize for being so abrupt, but I feel I should check to make sure the guards I sent out to find survivors are all right, as well as Lady Ali. I will speak to her again in my chambers within the hour. Anyone who wishes to attend may do so." And with that, she left the infirmary, her long pink dress trailing like the petals of a flower behind her.

Something of an awkward quiet followed - in which nobody quite knew what to say or do. Eldren still sat on the bed across from Midna, and Link and Laik stayed beside her, but none of them looked at each other, much less spoke. Eventually her two bodyguards, disliking the uncomfortable feeling in the air, retreated to a wall and simply stood there as silent as ever.

"I'm… just gonna go," Laik mumbled, still clearly upset about Midna calling him a spineless idiot. He stood and went to the opposite side of the room, not quite ready to leave it yet, but not willing to stay near the Twili princess.

Eldren cleared his throat. "So… Link."

The golden-haired Hylian looked up at the prince.

"My sister said it already, but thank you… for defeating that last monster," Eldren managed. He stared down at the floor and clasped his hands together in his lap.

Link tried to shrug. "Midna's bodyguard did most the work." He cast a sidelong glance at the woman. "Salaas, right?"

She nodded once.

Another silence. In an attempt to break it, Midna hurriedly started, "Um - it's good we're all safe, right?"

"Are we?" Link's brows lifted, and he gave her a pointed look.

"Yes. I'm _fine,"_ she insisted.

"I'm glad you're all right." Eldren stood then. Their eyes lifted to his. "I'm going to check on my sister," he informed them. "You know - to make sure she's safe." Midna nodded absently, and so the prince went out of the infirmary without another word, leaving Link and Midna mostly to themselves.

"Link," she started nervously, looking down at her dress and shutting her eyes.

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry… for, you know, lying to you."

"It's all right. Really. Just, don't do it again, please."

She opened her eyes again, meeting his own with a hesitant smile on her face. "Yeah. I'll do my best."

He didn't smile in reply. Instead he only sat there, frowning, and much to her surprise he reached to brush a lock of hair away from her face. "That really is a nasty bruise on your neck," he muttered.

Midna swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous, though she wasn't quite sure why. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing compared to broken ribs." She cocked a brow.

That time Link smiled.

"Well -" Midna stood, and only then remembered the glass that had been pulled out of her foot. She visibly winced and nearly fell over, if it weren't for Link hurrying to stand and wrap an arm around her waist to support her. "Thanks. Anyway, as I was going to say… should we head to Zelda's chambers and see if she can get Lady Ali to tell us who the necromancer is?"

Link's eyes flashed. The Twili resisted the urge to flinch away from the sudden anger in them.

He spoke, voice dangerously low, and it sent a chill up her spine - "I'd like that very much."

* * *

"The necromancer, Lady Ali. Who is it?" Zelda leaned forward across the wooden table and pierced the lady's gray eyes with her stormy ones.

Lady Ali clamped a hand over her mouth and shut her eyes. She sat on a plush couch, surrounded by Eldren, Laik, and Link. Across from her Zelda sat in her own chair, with Midna, Salaas, and Ludin in a sofa at her side. Silence cloaked Zelda's chambers. Not a soul broke it. Golden rays of sunset spilled through the windows dotting the walls and cast a long rectangle of light onto the table.

Princess Zelda's lips twisted into a deep grimace. "Lady Ali," she began again, "these are dire times. I have told you this before. You _know_ this. You must also know that, though I do not wish to, I will be forced to take drastic measures should you keep silent. The fate of Hyrule and possibly the entire _world_ rests upon this information."

The lady shook. Everyone stared at her expectantly, but she said nothing.

So the Hylian princess took a breath in preparation to speak again -

"Wait!" Lady Ali cried suddenly. Her hand dropped from her mouth to her lap, and she stared down at the carpeted floor with a quivering lip. "I - I'll tell you who it is. I'll tell you everything I know. But you'll hate me for it…"

So they waited - but the lady did not continue. A crow cawed outside the window, its rasping cry grating on Midna's nerves. The group sat around the table, each of them staring intently at the shuddering gray-eyed woman, waiting, no, silently _begging_ for her to say something.

Finally -

Her lips parted, and from them spilled a single name -

"Ganondorf."

Eldren's eyes shot wide open, and his entire body stiffened. Not a soul could respond. They only stared at the lady in surprise as she lowered her gaze yet again and hugged herself tightly. Not even the crow outside dared to speak.

Suddenly - the prince stood, large hands clenched into fists at his sides. "That's _impossible,"_ he spat. "My father - the, the _king_ of Hyrule would never do such a thing! You're lying!"

Tears welled up in Lady Ali's eyes. "I'm not, I promise!" She turned her fearful gaze to the tall, imposing form of Prince Eldren, who loomed over her like a terrible beast ready to lunge for the kill. His eyes blazed with pure, unadulterated rage, and she cowered in his shadow.

"You would _dare_ accuse my father of something as terrible as _necromancy?"_ Eldren hissed. His fists trembled with anger and his knuckles turned white. "You disgusting little -"

 _"Eldren!"_ Zelda growled, so uncharacteristically fierce that Midna jumped in her seat. She scooted away from the other princess and swallowed. Never before had she seen Eldren so angry. He'd always seemed gentle. And Zelda, too…

The prince turned his wild glare to the Hylian princess then, and gritted his teeth. "She's the necromancer, Zelda!" He pointed an accusing finger at Lady Ali. "She's trying to blame father in order to hide!"

"Silence!" Zelda commanded, dangerous lightning flashing in her eyes. "Sit down."

Eldren stared at her. His finger shook, but eventually he lowered it to his side, and obeyed his sister. Everyone gave him nervous looks, especially Lady Ali. Zelda took a deep breath, her chest shuddering with the action, and she shut her eyes for a moment to regain her composure. "Tell us everything," she said when her eyes opened again.

Lady Ali straightened and pressed her lips together. "It all began when my mother died. I went to the castle's graveyard to pay her my respects after she had been buried just the day before. And…" She shut her eyes. "I saw - I saw him. The king… He was standing in front of my mother's grave, and talking to someone - _she_ was there. My mother! I couldn't believe it, because, she was dead, and how could she be standing there? But she looked a bit… different. She had strange black markings on her face and when I looked a little closer I noticed her horrible yellow eyes. I was scared, so I hid and hoped the king couldn't see me.

"Unfortunately he did. I remember it so vividly…" Here she stopped to shudder - "He said, 'Get her,' and I saw him point to me. The woman that should have been my mother but wasn't walked toward me, she never smiled, and she grabbed my arm with freezing fingers. I tried to talk to her, to get her to _recognize_ me, but she was an entirely different person. I didn't know what was happening. She dragged me over to the king and I was too scared to scream. It - it was awful." Lady Ali rubbed her arms and kept her eyes squeezed shut as she spoke. "The king threatened to kill me if I told anyone. I told him that I had no idea what was happening at all, and begged that he let me go, but he wouldn't. He kept saying he'd kill me. I kept begging him not to. Somehow - I don't know how but, but I was so happy he let me live - he said if I helped him, he wouldn't kill me. Since he couldn't let anyone know what he was doing, he couldn't have anyone help him, but what with me stumbling upon his secret he said the only choice left for him was to have me help him. But he still threatened to kill me should I tell anyone.

"So, as I helped him, I realized he was practicing necromancy. I was scared and I didn't want anything to do with it but - but, you have to understand, I didn't want to die, I..." She paused to gulp and then continued. "A-at any rate. He let me into that locked door in the library - you know the one right? - and I found it full of necromancy books and notes he'd taken on how to get… the best results, I suppose. So I helped him. I read books when he didn't have time to, and I took notes for him, and I - I… I found fresh corpses for him." Before anyone could question her she hurried to explain, the words tumbling over each other in their desperation to leave her mouth. "You see - the - um, necromancy… In necromancy you can't revive skeletons. They'd just fall apart if they tried to walk. They need _some_ flesh on them. So, sometimes he'd send me out to find people who had died somewhat recently, or - or well-preserved corpses work too… But I didn't want to. I just…" She stopped and could say no more. Her head dropped to her lap and she buried her face in her hands, shaking her head.

The crow cawed outside the window again. Shocked silence followed Lady Ali's explanation.

Zelda stared, an expression of disbelief on her face. Her mouth hung open, just a little, and it was with some effort that she managed to close it. She lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes in an attempt to appear more composed. "But... why would he?" she murmured, hands clasped tight in her lap.

"To revive the queen," came the lady's simple reply.

Zelda's lips pressed together so tightly that they turned white. "I should have guessed," she muttered to herself. "Father loved her so much... he couldn't stand life without her." She heaved a heavy sigh. "But doesn't he see that attempting to revive her with necromancy cannot work? She would only return as a mindless beast."

Lady Ali shook her head. "She wouldn't return at _all._ You see, the demons don't have souls. They are only able to live because of the dark magic that courses through their veins. The king knew this. But still, for some reason, he tried to revive the late queen anyway. He was blinded by his desperation, I suppose… So he grew more and more powerful, hoping that the stronger he got, he'd somehow be able to reach right into the other realm and pull her soul back. Just a little while ago he started realizing that was impossible, though…"

Midna's brow furrowed. "Let me get this straight - all these demons are just the result of the king experimenting with necromancy?"

The lady nodded.

Midna's lip curled. "That's disgusting," she huffed, leaning back into the couch and folding her arms across her chest. "Once he figured out that his experiments _weren't_ working, why didn't he just - oh, I don't know - _stop creating dangerous monsters?!"_

"I… I'm not sure." Lady Ali frowned and averted her eyes. "He left them alive for some reason. He said he still needed them to experiment on somehow? I don't know, I didn't quite understand what he meant. But he forced them all into slumber so they couldn't do anything."

"He has complete control of them, then?" Zelda inquired.

"Yes. He does. Except…" She trailed off.

"Except?" the Hylian princess prodded.

"When they attacked the farms surrounding Castle Town." The lady hesitated. "It's a bit of a long explanation. Let me start by saying - necromancy is like a poison. If you take too much of it, you'll die - but be careful, and you can build up an immunity. When the king first started practicing necromancy, he was ill most the time. Recently he started getting more reckless, and used more power than he could handle. It nearly killed him." The crow outside the window took flight and vanished into the darkening sky. "Anyway - he gives the monsters their power and life; if he dies, then they die too, since they won't have anyone to give them power anymore. So when he recovered from his illness, he feared that nearly dying had weakened the demons. As a way to make sure they still possessed their power, he sent them out to attack."

"So _that's_ why one killed my parents and burned my house to the ground?" Link suddenly spoke up, eyes hard and cold.

The lady dropped her gaze in shame. "I'm sorry. He told them not to kill, merely to display their power - but for some reason they didn't listen to him. I don't know why. Maybe they didn't obey very well because he was still quite weak. That's my best guess."

Link's eyes still pierced like ice, but he sat back a little and said nothing more. Beside him Laik leaned against the plush armrest and watched the world turn black outside the nearby window. He'd been sitting in that position for a long time and apparently had no intent of changing that. Midna's eyes flicked between the two of them and she bit her lip.

Zelda frowned. She exchanged a glance with Eldren. "It all makes sense now," she murmured.

Eldren shook his head, jaw clenched tight. "No. It isn't… That's not what happened," he insisted - but his weak voice clearly betrayed his feelings. He was doubting himself.

"There is too much evidence, Eldren," Zelda sighed. "Father's insistence that he would find a way to bring mother back - locking us out of that section of the library without ever telling us why - his sudden seclusion and tendency to be secretive - his illness - all of it…"

The prince buried his face in his hands and said nothing.

"Why would he send the demons to attack the outlying farms?" Zelda asked. "You said he wanted to test their power - but wouldn't he know that would draw suspicion to himself?"

Lady Ali sighed heavily. "The king hasn't been very rational lately. I begged him not to do it, and said he could test their powers in secret… but he insisted. Said it was necessary. I didn't understand his reasoning because frankly, I thought it was stupid. But I couldn't stop him."

"He also must have been the one to direct today's attack," Zelda said. "Why?"

Lady Ali grimaced. "He's not actually leaving Hyrule to go 'warn the Gerudo', but that should be obvious by now. He's leaving for some other reason. _What_ that reason is, I admit I don't know, but - but he had to take his army of necromantic demons with him, and since he had been 'storing' them, I suppose you could say, underneath the castle - inside the catacombs - he needed a distraction. See, he can't just march a demon army through Castle Town, so the only way he could think of to get them out of the town without anyone noticing was to take the secret passage inside the throne room that leads all the way outside the town's walls. But the path to the catacombs is inside the dungeons, so _somehow_ he had to keep everyone distracted while he marched the army from the dungeons to the throne room."

Midna's eyes shot wide open. "Din, are you kidding me? We _fell_ for that? None of us noticed him transporting an _army_ across the castle?!" She bared her teeth. "This - this is ridiculous!"

Prince Eldren rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, interlocking his fingers and staring absently at the table. "I don't believe it… You're implying that my father would have wanted to kill us with those five demons."

"He didn't tell them to kill. He told them to distract and incapacitate, just like he told them to do when they attacked the outlying farms. Though… this time, they actually listened to him."

"That makes no sense." Zelda's brows knit together. "How did the demons escape the castle the first time? Wouldn't he have had to transfer them through the throne room then?"

"It was nighttime. Most everyone was asleep, except for the guards. I don't know what he did to them. I assume he just told them to leave and they didn't question him. Either way, the demons slipped out unnoticed."

Zelda's brows lowered over her slate blue eyes. "Though he sent only five to distract us, he had to have known people would still question how they got into the castle. He would risk bringing suspicion to himself. Why didn't he wait until night again this time?"

The lady shrugged her thin shoulders. "He was impatient. As I said - the king isn't rational lately, I'm sure you've all noticed how ridiculous he's been. He claimed he couldn't wait to leave for another second. And as for suspecting him… that's just it, isn't it? People would suspect. They would question. But they wouldn't _know_ for sure. If he allowed them to see his army, and him marching at the front of it, then they'd try to fight him, or pursue him, and that would slow him down considerably. Five demons without a leader are a lot less conspicuous than a lot of them _with_ a leader. He figured it'd be better to let people question rather than just give them the answers right away. It gave him more time to escape before anyone figured anything out."

"Now, he will never sit on the throne again." The Hylian princess frowned in thought. "He knew that, I am quite sure. So why would he allow people to suspect him?"

"Because he doesn't want to return to the throne," the lady replied. "I still don't know what he's doing, where he's going, or why he's going there, but the king made it clear that he didn't care about Hyrule anymore before he left." She stared at her dress and began mindlessly drawing patterns in the fabric. "He… threatened to kill me, again. I had two choices - die, or go with him. He knew he couldn't leave me behind because then _this_ would happen. I'd tell someone all about him. I… I just barely got away, actually, he almost killed me…"

Zelda heaved a shuddering sigh, and her eyes dulled with exhaustion. "I'm sorry, Lady Ali. And thank you for everything. I think we are all tired from the day's events, and we need sleep."

"Sleep?" Link sat stiff and so utterly still that he might as well have been a statue. His eyes held no emotion at all - purely cold, endless emptiness. Looking at him made Midna's heart clench in dread. She quickly averted her gaze and blankly prodded the soft couch beneath her. "We can't let King Ganondorf go," he said. "He needs to pay for what he's done. I'll hunt him down myself if I have to."

"We will _not_ let him go," Zelda assured the young Hylian man. "Tomorrow I will set out to search for him myself, along with whoever wishes to accompany me."

"Tomorrow? We'll lose him by then!" Link protested.

"Will we find him by tonight?" Zelda lightly shook her head, long sunshine locks of hair swaying softly about her porcelain face at the movement. "The hour grows too late. In this darkness we will not be able to pursue him, and our tired minds cannot be of much service to us. It is best if we wake early, pack whatever we need for the journey, and then set off with a fresh sun to guide us."

Midna didn't bother to hide her yawn. "Yeah, that's a good idea. It's been an exhausting day, and I'm more than ready to sleep."

The Hylian princess scanned the room, quickly studying each and every person there. "And who will accompany me?"

"I will," Link said without a second's hesitation.

"Zelda!" Eldren suddenly spoke up, a line of worry between his brows. "You can't do this alone. We'll need an army to follow us, to match the strength of the enemy."

The Hylian princess sighed. "We cannot risk bringing soldiers along with us. Not only would that render Hyrule defenseless -"

"It wouldn't be defenseless if we only brought enough to defend ourselves."

She continued as if he hadn't spoken at all. "- but that would require telling the soldiers and possibly the entire kingdom why we need to leave in such a hurry. Hyrule would be divided. Those who support father would rebel, and call us liars, saying that their king would never do such a thing. Those who do not support him would agree with us. A civil war could start."

"That's -" Eldren spluttered. "That's ridiculous! A worst case scenario _only._ It isn't even likely to happen at all!"

"We cannot risk it. Not to mention that it takes too much time to gather an army and provide them with provisions. We need to move silent and swift if we hope to catch up to our father."

"But -"

"You heard Lady Ali, did you not? An army is not necessary. If father falls, so do his demons."

"…What?" Eldren's voice hissed like venom. "You plan to _kill_ father?"

Zelda's eyes squeezed shut. She inhaled, and held her breath for a long time, not saying a single word. Then she sighed - "I do not know, not yet. I wish to speak to him first, if I can… if he's reasonable enough." Her eyes flashed open, and she lifted her chin. "If not, then I will do whatever is necessary to protect our world."

The prince clenched his teeth and stared at his sister as if trying to change her mind with only his gaze. She stared right back, not even blinking once. Finally Eldren huffed and leaned back. "Fine. I'll go too."

"You're injured."

"Not really. The red potion the head physician gave me relieves most of the pain and makes things heal much faster. I'll be fine."

"Who will guard Hyrule in your absence?" Zelda asked.

Eldren shrugged lightly. "I'll speak to the regent in the morning." His sister stared at him for a while, and he shifted uncomfortably beneath her piercing gaze. When still she said nothing he looked away and nervously reached to loosen the collar of his shirt. "What?" he mumbled.

"Will you tell him the reason we're leaving?"

"…No?"

"Good. You can come," she finally agreed.

"And I guess I will too," Midna spoke up. "After all, things'll get pretty boring around here without a bunch of demons." She chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

"You will do no such thing." Salaas glared the Twili princess, but she didn't flinch. Instead she just cocked a brow at him.

"Oh, really? Just _watch_ me. I'll be gone in the morning and you know there's nothing you can do about it."

Salaas shut his eyes and scratched at the bridge of his nose, breathing a sigh through clenched teeth. "Fine. Ludin and I will come, then. It's our duty to follow you, after all."

"I guess I have to go," Laik grumbled, still never taking his eyes off the window. Midna had begun to wonder if he'd just fallen asleep. Apparently not. "I mean, everyone's going, even my brother, so…"

"You don't have to come, Laik," Link said, casting his brother a sideways glance. "You'd be safer here anyway."

"Are you calling me weak?" The brown-haired Hylian man huffed.

"Maybe a bit." Link smiled - a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless. Seeing it brightened Midna's mood, just a little.

"Look, I'll be fine," Laik insisted, dismissively waving a hand. "Just wake me up whenever you're ready to go and I'll come, okay? Okay."

Link shrugged and didn't protest.

That left only Lady Ali. But she hurriedly shook her head, dark curls whipping frantically about her face. "I'm - I'm so sorry, I couldn't _possibly -"_

"That is quite all right." Zelda tried to smile. "Do not concern yourself over this matter. You may stay behind at the castle if you so wish, and I will leave you with some of my most trusted guards should any harm befall you. However - I do wish to know everything about the demons that I possibly can before we leave."

The lady nodded eagerly. "Of course. I'll tell you what I can."

So Zelda began the questioning - and Lady Ali replied each time without missing a beat.

"How many are in my father's army?"

"I suppose 'army' is exaggerating things a bit, but at _most,_ four or five hundred, I think."

"What is an easy way to defeat the demons?"

"Sap the very magic from their veins. Kills them in an instant. Unfortunately you have to be a necromancer to do that."

"Do they have any special powers besides their seemingly superhuman strength?"

"They can set things on fire, but some of them are better at it than others. Some are good at it, some can barely do it at all. They can also wield weapons if they choose, but they seem not to like to. They prefer killing victims by strangulation from what I know."

"It seems that none of them can run; they can only walk. Is this true?"

"Yes and no. See, when the king first started practicing necromancy, he wasn't very skilled in it, so he didn't quite know how to balance the demons' abilities. Some of them, he created to be strong and difficult to kill, but they're very heavy and so it's hard for them to move. Others are so fast that it's hard to catch them, but if you do manage to, they're frail and easy to damage. He experimented with making them stronger and faster and all-around more versatile." Here she finally stopped for a moment to think about her next words. "He only created one monster that was perfect. It sapped so much of his strength… _That_ was what nearly killed him… But he was so proud of his creation. Even using the best weapons against it, it can barely be dented, and it's fast as a blur, good with knives, _and_ its fire magic is near flawless." She shuddered. "He calls it The Executioner."

Zelda stopped asking questions. She only stared at the lady sitting opposite from her, and a shadow of fear might have flickered in her eyes. "It sounds invincible."

"As far as I know, it is," Lady Ali murmured. "That's all I know. Sorry I can't be of more help."

"You've helped plenty," the Hylian princess assured her with a tiny, forced smile. "Thank you. And, with that - I think it's high time for us to sleep." She quickly scanned the room and saw some people nodding slightly in agreement. "After all, we have quite a big day ahead of us."

* * *

Only darkness kept him company. Even the stars hid their faces behind thick black clouds, and Link laid there on a scratchy, creaky bed in the infirmary, eyes wide open.

Tomorrow.

 _Tomorrow,_ and he'd set out to avenge his parents. The thought made his throat go dry. He hadn't been nearly strong enough to defeat the necromantic beasts on his own; how could he hope to be of any use to Princess Zelda and the group that had chosen to follow her? Where he had been so eager to meet King Ganondorf face to face and give him a piece of his mind, now… now, he wasn't so sure.

He grasped at the edges of his pillow as the quiet call of an owl interrupted the stillness. The only thing he wished for at that moment - sleep. If only he could get it. But his twisting stomach and racing heart wouldn't allow him to.

"Link?"

Laik's voice. The golden-haired Hylian turned on his side and looked down to the floor where his brother lay, wrapped in a blanket. Being unhurt as he was, the head physician hadn't deemed it necessary to give him a bed - other more injured patients deserved that privilege - so he'd simply given him a blanket and directed him to the floor.

Link stared down at the other Hylian, and saw his gray eyes piercing the black night.

"What?"

"You… you don't hate me, do you? I mean, I should -" His voice cracked a little - "should have stepped in to help you. Midna's right. I was a coward, and, and I almost let you die…"

"Laik. It's fine."

"But - if you would have died because of me -"

"I'm safe." Link smiled, though he knew his brother couldn't see it in the darkness. "Really. Stop worrying. Those monsters are terrifying, I know, so don't be ashamed of yourself. Just a friendly suggestion, though… try to grow a spine by tomorrow morning? You'll need it." His smile widened. He hoped Laik knew he was teasing.

Of course he did. The other Hylian man grinned, his white teeth flashing in the scant light. "Heh… okay. I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the tip."

Silence followed then. The owl hooted again. Link shut his eyes and told himself to go to sleep.

"Link?"

He groaned under his breath. "What?"

"You're really not angry at me?"

"I will be if you don't let me sleep. I'm sure the other people here won't thank you for keeping them awake either."

As if emphasizing Link's point, a gruff man's voice called from across the room, "Shut up, will ya? Some of us are tryin' ta sleep here!"

"R-right. Sorry." Laik stilled, and Link kept his eyes shut. Much to his surprise, and pleasure, he began to drift to sleep. The world around him became much less important, and the only thing that mattered was the fuzzy dream tugging at the edges of his consciousness, lulling him into slumber.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?"

Link frowned. "Yeah, I am," he mumbled, voice slurred with sleep.

He thought he could hear his brother shifting on the floor, trying in vain to find a comfortable position to sleep in. "I just… it's scary. I don't even know if I want to go." His voice dropped to a near-silent whisper. "We're looking for a necromancer and his army of almost-invincible demons. It's pretty ridiculous, honestly - do we all just _want_ to die?"

"That's not what this is about, Laik." Link turned onto his other side, back facing his brother. "It's about -"

 _Avenging mother and father._

He forced the idea away and ground his teeth together. Revenge was a dangerous path, he knew, but he couldn't help the feelings of hatred he had for the king upon realizing that _he_ had caused the death of his parents. He struggled for another reason, _any_ other reason really, just to ignore the loathing boiling within his veins.

"- it's about Hyrule," he finally managed. "If we find - well, _him,_ and get rid of him and his monsters, then Hyrule will be safe. We can't allow him to hurt more people."

"Yeah," Laik mumbled. "I guess you're right. But it's still scary."

"I know it is. That's why sleep is important, so we'll be well-rested for our demon-hunt tomorrow."

Laik chuckled nervously. "Right. Sorry. I'll let you sleep."

Link smiled, just a little. "Night, Laik."

"Night."

* * *

 **A/N: Ugh, I'm really sorry for this chapter. It's so... exposition-y. I hope it isn't boring, but I kinda wanted to get everything out on the table in this chapter so we don't have to worry about it later on.**

 **As for who the necromancer was... Heh, it was super obvious wasn't it? But according to some of your reviews, it seems a few of you might have been suspicious of someone _other_ than Ganondorf. Which was my intention, actually, I wanted to see how much I could lead you guys away from the super obvious trail ;P Dunno how well it worked for some of you, but hey, it was fun anyway. With that said - this chapter might seem a bit unreasonable and stupid in some of its explanations. That's because, when I had to rework the plot, some of the things that happened in this story became obsolete... I had to try and make them fit into the plot so they weren't just pointless. Not sure if I succeeded because I probably had to reach pretty far to get some of those stupid explanations :L Tell me what you guys think, if it's just way too ridiculous or if you're generally fine with it all...? Who knows? I might come back and do some rewriting to this story when it's all over and done with. I don't even know. I'm just rambling about nothing at this point. Sorry.**


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